Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

In this course, we begin to answer the question: what does the idea of sustainable development mean for cities? Using case studies from Vancouver and around the world, we will seek to understand how urban sustainable development innovations are developed, designed, and implemented. Special attention will be paid to the importance of sustainable development linkages between urban issues related to economic development, social justice, and environmental conservation and protection.

COURSE DETAILS:

Note: this course is scheduled from May 4 - June 15 (inclusive)

      Whether it’s Earth Day, COP21, green building, or the Great Law of the Iroquois Nation, everyone knows something about sustainable development, or ‘sustainability.’ The idea is to provide for the needs of the present generation without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this course, we try to answer the question: What does this idea mean for cities?

      Cities are sites of the vast majority of global production and consumption, home to half the world’s population, the most stunning successes of human technical, political, and social ingenuity, as well as the lion’s share of waste, carbon emissions, and some of humanity’s most dismal failures. Cities are simultaneously our hope for better quality lives and the places in most urgent need of change. Research, theory-building and implementation of urban sustainable development is now evolving and innovating rapidly. Around the world, cities have the potential to contribute positively to a better, more durable human future overall. From questions of governance to infrastructure, design and green space to social interaction and cultural mixing, cities hold keys to sustainability innovations. At the same time, the risks imposed by cities and urbanization to sustainable development cannot be discounted.

      This course will approach the opportunities and paradoxes of urban sustainable development from a conceptual ground based in evolving theory and practice from urban planning and policy and the social sciences. Particular attention will be paid to building the theoretical grounding, language, skills and techniques to address a variety of urban sustainability challenges and opportunities as urban managers, planners, policy analysts and change advocates. As such, class assignments include written and oral submissions, formally presented and informally negotiated ideas, independent and group projects, all of which challenge students to engage with course material, with guests and local field exercises and with one another, from new perspectives.  

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

In addition to the use of lectures and class discussion, we will also use guest lectures, films, local field trips, debate and dialogue, in-class group work, and online exercises.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

RECOMMENDED READING: