Course description
It is widely acknowledged that more than half of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas. What is commonly referred to as a “city” is a socio-spatial settlement whose definition changes across historical phases, geographical contexts, and political landscapes. While urbanization dynamics in the Global North have somewhat slowed, the process continues at an accelerated pace in the Global South, where cities are growing rapidly both in size and complexity.
As globalization intensifies worldwide, its impacts—both positive and negative—are increasingly felt at the local level. Cities are the epicenters where challenges such as climate change, migration, aging populations, health emergencies, economic crises, and political upheavals are directly experienced by people in their everyday lives. However, cities are not merely passive sites of these challenges; they are also critical arenas for policy interventions aimed at addressing these issues. Urban environments provide the context where both the problems and solutions to global changes materialize.
The course “Cities and Global Change: Urban Policy Analysis and Design” takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding cities as complex systems in which natural, human, socio-economic, political, and built environments co-evolve. By integrating perspectives from economics, environmental sciences, urban planning, architecture, political science, sociology, and law, the course explores how today’s urban challenges can be tackled by combining different approaches. The goal is to foster urban futures that are both resilient and sustainable.

The goals of the course are the following:
1. Understand contemporary urbanization: Introduce students to the core issues surrounding contemporary urbanization, focusing on the changing morphology and socio-economic character of cities across the world. This goal provides a broad global outlook on how cities evolve in the context of both the Global North and South.
2. Analyze global forces shaping cities: Help students develop a solid understanding of the major interrelated forces—such as globalization, climate change, and migration—that are driving changes and challenges in cities today. The course explores how these forces interact to influence urban environments both positively and negatively.
3. Develop skills in urban policy analysis and design: Provide students with an introduction to the field of public policy analysis and design, particularly in the realm of urban policy. This will enable students to critically evaluate policies and propose interventions to address urban challenges effectively.
4. Apply Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in urban analysis: Introduce students to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and other data representation software, equipping them with practical tools to analyze, map, and communicate complex urban challenges. GIS is used as a key tool to support urban policy-making and decision-making processes.
5. Understand climate change adaptation and the role of international bodies: Provide students with insights into the dynamics of climate change adaptation and the role of international UN bodies, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in shaping urban responses to climate crises. Students will explore how global agreements and frameworks, like the Paris Agreement, influence local and global policy decisions in urban planning and design.

The course will also utilize Venice as a case study, offering a unique opportunity for students to explore a city facing a range of global challenges, including climate change, depopulation, aging, deindustrialization, and touristification. Students will work in interdisciplinary groups to critically analyze these challenges and propose practical solutions. By participating in field trips and engaging with stakeholders involved in the management and planning of Venetian urban areas, students will gain practical, hands-on experience in public policy analysis. In addition, the course includes a Design Lab, allowing students to experiment with tools, methodologies, and planning approaches based on real-world case studies.
By the end of the course, students will be able to understand the complexities of urbanization in a globalized world and possess the practical skills necessary to contribute to resilient and sustainable urban futures.

Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students are expected to:
1. Understand cities as complex systems involving natural, human, socio-economic, cultural,
political, and built environments, and how these elements interact and evolve.
2. Critically assess global forces such as globalization, climate change, and migration, and their effects on urban environments, both positive and negative.
3. Utilize multidisciplinary approaches by integrating perspectives from economics, environmental sciences, urban planning, architecture, and political science to analyze urban phenomena.
4. Design and conduct fieldwork using appropriate tools and methods, including GIS, to analyze urban policies and design processes.
5. Understand climate change adaptation and international frameworks, such as the role of the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement in shaping urban resilience and sustainability policies.

Course structure
The course is designed to enhance students’ abilities to communicate and collaborate within multicultural and multidisciplinary environments, reflecting the global nature of urban challenges. Given the diverse nationalities and academic backgrounds of the participants, students are encouraged to engage actively in discussions and share different perspectives. This interaction fosters a rich exchange of knowledge, ideas, and viewpoints, which is essential for addressing complex urban issues.

The course will be structured as follows:
1. Frontal lectures delivered by professors, covering core topics such as urbanization, cities, and public policy analysis.
2. Student-led lectures where work groups will present on global challenges that shape contemporary cities.
3. Design Lab, where students will work on case studies, utilizing planning and design techniques, as well as relevant software tools.
4. Field trips to case study areas, providing students with the opportunity to meet key
stakeholders and gain practical insights into urban planning activities.
5. In itinere tutoring to support group work and guide students throughout the course.

Evaluation Methods
Students will be assessed through three key evaluations:
1. Class presentation: A group lecture on a global urban challenge, accounting for 20% of the overall grade.
2. Mid-term evaluation: An individual multiple-choice test based on the lectures, contributing to 25% of the final grade.
3. Final group work presentation: The culmination of students’ work in the Design Lab, making up 40% of the overall grade.
Additionally, 15% of the final grade will be based on class attendance, participation, interaction, and submission of required assignments.

Bibliography: a selection
Beck U. (2016). The metamorphosis of the world: How climate change is transforming our concept of the world. John Wiley & Sons.
Brenner N. and Schmid C. (eds.) (2013). Implosions/explosions. Towards a study of planetary urbanization, Berlin: Jovis Verlag.
Desjardins J. (2020). Signals. Charting the new direction of the global economy, Canada: Visual Capitalist.
Lynch K. (1964). The image of the city. MIT press.
Ferrari E. and Rae A. (2019). GIS for planning and the built environment: an introduction to spatial analysis, London: Red Globe Press.
JRC (2019). The future of cities. Opportunities, challenges and the way forward. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Rogers D., Keane A., Alizadeh T. and Nelson J. (eds) (2020). Understanding urbanism. Springer.
Sapru R.K. (2013). Public policy. Art and craft of policy analysis. Delhi: PHI Learning Privated Limited.

Last updated: November 20, 2024