75075 - Urban Studies in The United States

Learning outcomes

The course is intended to be both an introduction to the U.S. city and to the field of Urban Studies. At the end of the course, students will have a knowledge about: - The foundations of urban theory and the empirical tradition in classic urban studies; - Functional city and the New Urbanism; - Urban studies between suburb and the Ghetto; - Capitalist City and Globalization; - The City of tomorrow: Post carbon Cities - outline the main steps and authors of recent urban studies in the US; - individuate the elements that characterize the sociological approach in the field of urban studies .

Course contents

The course will focus on the main theories and the empirical traditions of American urban studies. We will examine some trends characterizing American cities in recent decades: segregation, urban sprawl, the crisis of the inner city and some ways to deal with it.

Readings/Bibliography

Wirth L. (1938), Urbanism as a Way of Life, “American Journal of Sociology”, 44 (1), pp. 1- 24.

Jacobs J. (1961), The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Random House: New York, capp. 7-10.

Badger E. (2012), Living in Some Parts of Chicago Can Take More Than a Decade Off Your Life, available at www.citylab.com

Small M.L. (2014), M.L. Small, No two Ghettos are alike, The Chronicle Review, "The Chronicle of Higher Education".

Sassen Saskia (1991), The Global City: introducing a concept, “Brown Journal of World Affairs”, XI (2), pp. 27-43.

Harvey D., (2014), The Crisis of Planetary Urbanization, available at http://post.at.moma.org

Brenner N. (2016), “The Hinterland, Urbanized?,” AD / Architectural Design, 118-127.

Sampson R.J. (2017), “Urban sustainability in an age of enduring inequalities: Advancing theory and ecometrics for the 21st-century city”, PNAS, 114, pp. 8957-8962. available at http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/114/34/8957.full.pdf

 

Teaching methods

Class meetings will combine lecture and discussion.

Assessment methods

Oral exam on the recommended readings. Alternatively, students may also submit a written report, focusing on one of the proposed articles or another one to be agreed with the teacher.

Teaching tools

Slides presentation, videos, websites.

The slides presented at class will be available during the course.

Office hours

See the website of Alessandra Landi