JPF455/JPF2430Y
Instructors: Patricia McCarney, George Baird, Richard Stren
Meeting Section: L0101
Thursday, 10:00am - 12:00pm
Location: TBD

As we have just entered a period when for the first time in our history, half of the population on this planet is urban, the significance of improving our understanding of cities in a global context has never been greater. This course is designed to improve awareness of cities as approached by different disciplines and in different international contexts. The course will introduce theoretical frameworks for understanding city development and then move to the key issues and challenges confronting cities globally. The role of cities as new sites of governance in a global context will be examined through the lens of these core challenges. More generally, the course will explore cities and global change; cities and urban design; cities and social justice; cities and climate change; cities and poverty; state reform and city politics; cities and citizenship; cities and immigration; cities and economic development; cities and governance; and, cities and the political-economy of urban space. The course design is undertaken also in recognition of the importance of bringing together area studies, where the study of cities of Latin America, Asia and Africa, are brought together in comparative context with the study of cities of Europe and North America.