Courses

This course offers an introduction to the field of urban planning in a transnational context. We will explore the meaning of “a global perspective” on how urban space is produced, used and contested. We will examine a range of historical and contemporary events, inter-scalar processes, and political-economic and cultural forces that shape theory and practice of city making. In so doing, we will pay close attention to issues of social and racial justice in relation to city-making and processes of urbanization. For those interested, the course can serve as one particularly helpful ‘gateway’ into the concepts covered in the Urban Studies program.

How has our way of understanding and visually representing cities evolved? How do we represent spatial data and what do we use, when and how? Gain a historical understanding of how the city has been represented visually, as well as the fundamentals of representation types and information design, in the service of reading and interpreting visualizations of the city. Future creators and consumers of city visuals will be exposed to the data sources and production processes behind a wide variety of representations. Experiential exercises will allow students to comprehend and use the principles for creating clear and powerful graphic narratives of the city.

Examination of various approaches to hands-on engagement with urban communities while examining the meaning of public, community, and participation. Prerequisite: Second-year standing.

Place-based exploration of the multiple, complex and contested ways urban Indigeneity is constituted in Canada today, with opportunities for field trips and hands-on learning. 

Second-year students may be admitted with instructor permission.

Cities are often posited as locations of density and agglomeration effects; they exist as necessary hubs for people to come together and share in production and exchange. However, this conception of the urban lacks any normative value. It fails to ask questions such as “Who do cities benefit?”, “Why are those benefits allocated across the population in particular ways?”, and “How do citizens, institutions, and the market negotiate urban values and trajectories?” At the heart of this course is the notion of cities as crucibles of justice. City-making requires understanding how spatial and cultural contingencies produce expected and unexpected outcomes for urban citizens.

This course introduces the technological and policy challenges and opportunities in the emerging field of Smart Cities. It begins with high-level policy analysis of current challenges facing cities around the world including population growth, urbanization, social well-being, economic development, and climate change. We assess sustainability impacts of Smart Cities including urban metrics and indicators, big-data analysis, and applications in urban modelling and simulation. We focus on how data-driven analytics and technological and social innovation can help address urban policy challenges and inform evidence-based decision-making.

Second-year students may be admitted with instructor permission.

For many cities, the path toward greening is lower greenhouse gases, protection from ecological hazards, higher quality of life, and economic growth. Green cities value ecosystems, seek to harmonize development with nature, and adapt to and mitigate climate change. However, rollout can generate unintended consequences. This course examines green cities as simultaneously essential for addressing global environmental degradation and exacerbators of that degradation. We examine historical, conceptual, and applied aspects globally, with an emphasis on North America. We define green cities, how/why green cities take shape, why we need them, how to make one, and the outcomes. We question overly-simple descriptions of urban greening.

Second-year students may be admitted with instructor permission.)

Examination of how the diverse, multicultural, and cosmopolitan aspects of cities create challenges and opportunities for community planning. 

An introduction to some concepts, challenges, and debates in community and regional planning, as a profession and as a process of social and political intervention in space. Planning is action- and problem-oriented. Professional planners use zoning by-laws, citizen engagement, and land-use policies to manage transportation, housing, real estate development, community-building, and the allocation of social services, which affect our everyday lives in communities, cities, and regions. By ordinary citizens, planning operates in complex social and political environments shaped by local, regional, national, and transnational forces. This course critically engages students with the meanings, practices, and tools that shape the field of community and regional planning.

Application of key elements of urban studies theory, concepts, and methods to a community-engaged urban challenge. Other prerequisites: GEOG 451. Equivalency: URST 452

This course undertakes a detailed, comparative examination of the history, present and future of planning in a global context. It examines planning in diverse settings and highlights how planning has been, is, and might be conceived and practiced.

History of colonization in Canada and other parts of the world, including impacts on Indigenous peoples. Distinguishing features of Indigenous planning practice and traditions. How planners can contribute to social justice, decolonization, and reconciliation between settlers and Indigenous peoples.

How sustainability and resilience concepts shape planning practice, including planning’s successes and failures in addressing environmental problems. Policies and tools that communities can adopt and employ in response to climate change, loss of biodiversity, and related challenges.

Neighbourhood and site-level urban design. The role and power of visual representation. The use of information technologies for mapping, visual representation, and engagement.

Major theoretical debates in planning and their influence on practice. Values in planning and their role in decision-making. Planning’s role in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusivity. The nature of ethical issues in planning and professional practice.