Lecture
The course introduces key positions and debates in urban theory that allow conceptualizing what cities are and how they function. This is linked with an overview of critical issues and challenges in historical and contemporary urban development. Key phases of modern urban design and planning are reflected in terms of their linkages to wider processes of capitalist urbanization, formations of state power, social struggle and cultural change. We also explore how design and planning interventions in the city have evolved in terms of changing sites and targets, goals and ideologies drawing on interdisciplinary literature from architecture and planning as well as urban social science and urban history.

Seminar
The seminar complements the lecture “Transformations I” by providing opportunities for the reading of key texts and for group discussions. We will reflect on different approaches to the understanding of cities and urbanization by reading and jointly discussing key texts. The seminar also serves to teach and train basic skills in critical reading and writing for academic purposes. Students will gain an understanding of “academic knowledge claims” and improve their ability to dissect and discuss differences between arguments. Moreover, in this course students will undergo a peer-review process to improve their writing skills and get in touch with common procedures in academic publishing. Requirements are regular attendance and active engagement in class as well as the submission of one review paper.