Urban trends and strategies

Science of cities

• City fundamentals
• Evolution of cities
• Cities, states and global networks
• Economic geography of cities
• Regional housing and labor markets
• Political science (governance) of cities

Urban trends

• Social trends: inequality, gentrification, precariat, city ownership, political trends
• Economic trends, such as housing market dynamics, data-economy, overtourism
• Demographic trends: ageing, diversification and expulsion
• Trends related to sustainable growth: climate emergency, energy provisioning, international connectivity, urban and regional mobility, circular economy, air quality and other health issues

Diagnosis

• Anamnesis and diagnosis
• Checklist of city diagnostics
• Problem definition and root cause analysis

Strategy making

• What is a strategy?
• Identifying a city’s values
• Foresight, visioning
• Goal setting and scoping the challenge
• Identifying critical paths and leverages
• Designing spatial and policy proposals

Presenting convincingly

• Pyramid Principle
• Golden Circle: why, how, what
• Turning information into a narrative
• Kill your darlings

After taking this course, you will have expanded your skills in:

1. Understanding current urban trends in the light of global political-economic, technological and ecological change;
2. Diagnosing a city at the level of the daily urban system and in its wider geographical and political economical context;
3. Methodically devise strategies towards desired change;
4. Convincingly present your diagnosis and proposals to decision makers.

• Lecture ppts, selected books (recommended chapters) and articles, links to videos and websites