Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

This course provides an opportunity for students to study one or more urban studies topics that lie beyond the scope of the other courses. This course will normally provide a more research-intensive experience than other graduate urban studies courses.

COURSE DETAILS:

Global urbanization measures indicate that for the first time in history, over half of the world’s population now resides in cities. Concurrently, information technology is spreading out from the private sphere and into a city’s buildings, objects, and infrastructure. Many urban planners, consultants, elected officials, developers, and citizens are excited by the prospect of using this technology in their pursuit of smart urbanism. It is widely held that the intelligent city will address pressing urban challenges, and improve urban life for all. In this course, we will learn about smart urban technology, policy, and planning through the lens of critical urban theory. This course deliberates, at a theoretical and empirical level, the following questions: who is the smart city for? How do citizens participate in its making (and under what circumstances)? And, how might we engage key stakeholders with respect to social justice, civic participation, and rights? The aim of the course is to theorize the smart city through examination of relevant academic literature, interesting empirical cases, and existing urban policy. Students will explore, analyze, and critically reflect upon existing intelligent policy, plans and strategies. Then, working with a group, students will create and pitch their own smart city strategies and ideas that aim to address contemporary urban issues. This course will use a combination of lecture, class discussion, critical analysis, class presentations and group project.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

· Think critically through the ‘smart’ city, and contextualize approaches to intelligent urbanism historically and socially

· Analyze and compare existing and proposed smart community projects

· Formulate new lines of inquiry and thinking in response to popular conceptions of the intelligent city and its hoped-for potential

· Work effectively in a group to create a conceptual smart city project that addresses an urban challenge, and be able to communicate and ‘pitch’ this idea to an audience

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: