Histories and Theories of Urban Interventions
GSD-5101B, Lecture, Spring 2009

This course uses historical and analytical readings and case studies to address several major theoretical questions concerning the aims and outcomes of urban interventions.  The overall theme is the relationship between conscious public policy and the economic, social, and political framework in which it operates and which it affects. To what extent are planning, design, and policy simply the resultant of social forces and to what degree do they shape those forces? Where do planners and policy makers derive their goals; what is the relationship between the goal-setting process, the quality of policy, and the character of cities and regions; what are the values that should govern practice; how can the planner enhance his or her control over social outputs, and, in turn, by what mechanisms should the public control him or her?  Who benefits from urban and regional planning?  What is the relationship between race and gender and urban outcomes? 

Topics include the history of urban planning and its relationship with the history of urban development; a comparison of American, European, and developing country examples of urban interventions; modernism and post-modernism; Fordism and post-Fordism; development theory; cities and social inequality.

Course Syllabus

Urban Politics and Planning
GSD-5201B, Lecture, Spring 2009

The course examines the politics of urban planning, land use, environmental regulation, and economic development.   The principal aim is to help students think strategically about the role of governance--and the group conflicts that swirl around it--in shaping the physical, social, and economic character of urban places.  Although the focus is primarily on the U.S. experience, there is considerable attention to international comparisons.   Policy topics include land use planning, infrastructure investment, poverty dispersion; housing subsidies; public-private partnerships for economic development; and efforts to move from urban sprawl to “smart growth”; mega-projects; and dealing with disaster.   Cross-cutting topics include the effects of local government fragmentation; the causes and consequences of sprawl and racial-class segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas; business-government relations; and contending theories about power and politics.  Emphasis is placed throughout on the special roles of business and of grass-roots democracy in urban governance, and on tensions between the values of economic development, citizen participation, and equity. 

Course Syllabus

GSD 5484: Redevelopment Policy
Lecture, Fall

Urban redevelopment is the process by which government, private investors, and households transform the uses and financial returns of the urban built environment. As an area of public policy it is a response to the perceived deterioration of cities caused by initial poor construction, decay, economic restructuring, regional shifts, suburbanization, and social segregation. Different social groups receive different costs and benefits as a consequence of redevelopment efforts. The objective of this course is to examine the process of urban decline, the kinds of responses that it has evoked, the principal redevelopment actors, the possible range of redevelopment strategies, and the social and spatial impacts of redevelopment efforts.

Topics to be covered include: the history of redevelopment programs; the character of the real estate industry, offices, tourism and entertainment as strategies for central city revival; community-based efforts for neighborhood revitalization; historic preservation and its implications; gentrification; issues of class and race; international comparisons.

Class discussion is an essential part of the course. Written assignments consist of two papers, the first to be based on library research and the second to involve original research.

Course Syllabus

GSD 5487: Planning and Urban Theory
Lecture, Spring 2008

This course uses analytical readings and case studies to address several major questions in planning theory. The overall theme is the relationship between conscious public policy and the economic, social, and political framework in which it operates and the urban space which it affects. To what extent is planning simply the resultant of social forces and to what degree does it shape those forces? Where do planners derive their goals; what is the relationship between the goal-setting process, the quality of policy, and the character of cities and regions; what are the ethical constraints that should govern planning practice; how can the planner enhance his or her control over social outputs, and, in turn, by what mechanisms should the public control him or her? Who benefits from urban and regional planning? What is the relationship between race and gender and planning outcomes? How does the capitalist political economy influence the nature of planning, and to what extent is there variation under capitalism?