On Spatial Exclusion and Planning This course investigates the idea of geographies of exclusion through a multi-disciplinary inquiry which locates spatial production and planning practice at its center. The course cross-thinks issues of spatial exclusion and social justice across cities in the Global North and the Global South. What are geographies of exclusion? Who gets excluded, why, by whom, and how? What are some of the legal, spatial, socio-economical, moral, and political apparatuses that get articulated in producing segregated spaces of poverty and lavishness, violence and fear, connectedness and confinement? What are the roles of state agencies and “experts” such as planners, architects, and policy makers in producing such geographies, and how are these practices reproduced in the everyday? To that end, we will examine the mechanisms through which certain populations in our cities are left “outside” (through gated communities, “mean” streets, policing, security barriers, segregated parks, etc.), or kept “inside” (prisoners, refugees in camps, locked-in domestic workers, etc.).
Planning for Urban Energy Systems This class explores planning for urban energy systems. The course is divided into four sections. The first section examines the history of energy use in cities. The second section examines the components of contemporary urban energy systems from primary energy supply to end use. The third section examines the consequences of urban energy use in cities including local to global environmental and health impacts as well as vulnerabilities. In the final section, we examine the politics and planning of these systems, paying particular attention to mitigation efforts.
Practicum: Planning and Mega Projects in Global Cities This course is intended to examine the governance, political economic, and planning process issues across three global cities – New York City, London, and Cape Town. These aspects will be viewed through case studies associated with transportation, mega projects, and school planning. Students will be asked to consider the following critical questions with respect to the case studies: (1) How is private capital influencing the location, delivery and approach to urban development, and consequently, broader land use patterns and infrastructure provision? (2) How can governance affect levels of regulation as it relates to new technologies? (3) What are the emerging gaps and social inequities as a result of today’s approaches to urban development projects?
Practicum: Residential Planning in Global Cities As the world’s urban population grows towards six and a half 22
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