Urban Futures

Overview

Critical debates in planning is seminar-based with students being continuously assessed on the independent research they complete during the semester. The main global challenges within the module will include the following:

-green infrastructure
-the inclusive city
-urban technological change
-future demographics
-low carbon transition
-critical heritage perspectives
-cities and the e-economy
-planning the urban-rural dialectic
-urban resource use
-the future of urban housing
-health in future cities

Learning Objectives

On the successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

- critically analyse and participate in the theoretical, practical and ethical debates on planning, supported by independent reading of key texts;
- demonstrate enhanced communication skills through participation in discussions, presentation and class feedback sessions; via written assignments; and through combining verbal and written communication into a single output;
- demonstrate a general knowledge of a number of themes pertinent to contemporary planning before selecting an issue of particular interest to develop a level of specialist expertise through the completion of a detailed report, which will lead into the thesis;
- appreciate how urban design and place-making projects an ameliorate or exacerbate the challenges related to the specialist planning themes under discussion;
- demonstrate an understanding of interdisciplinary, i.e. how the planning and urban design professions and academy relate to other professional and disciplinary stakeholders;
- to understand how historic, current and future planning practice has impacted / can impact upon positively and negatively to climate change;
- demonstrate an understanding of how the planning professional has evolved and adapted since its inception to meet changing circumstances whilst considering how the profession can future proof its practice to remain central to countering global challenges.

Skills

Students will also develop the following generic and professional skills:

- generic: bibliographic research and retrieval; written, graphical and computer-based presentations skills;
- professional: design appreciate, team-working, time-management and professional presentation skills.

Assessment

Students must pass assignment 1 with cross compensation applying to the continuous assessments.