Comparative Urbanism

Catalog description

This course investigates selected urban issues through the lens of comparative urbanism. GEOG 420Y Comparative Urbanism (3) (US;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. As an upper level urban geography seminar, this course investigates selected urban issues through the lens of comparative urbanism and requires active class participation. Examination of readings from the growing literature on comparative urbanism will introduce students not only to possible ways to design an effective comparative study but also to the varying goals of such work. Other readings, drawn from a wide variety of sources, will target particular issues facing urban areas that may vary from year to year, such as economic restructuring, uneven urban redevelopment, transportation planning, historic preservation, arts districts, the social construction of race and ethnicity, aging in place, and urban poverty. Students in turn will be required to design and carry out a comparative research project focusing on a particular urban issue, highlighting both the similarities and the differences between their selected case study cities and placing them in local, regional, and global contexts. This course is reading and writing intensive and satisfies United States Cultures and International Cultures requirements, as well as the Bachelor of Arts Social and Behavioral Sciences Field.