Curriculum

The course will examine how emerging technological systems influence the life of future urban places. We will examine previous attempts by designers to construct utopian places as well as artists’ ideas for futurity. Then, we will cover topics such as smart cities, planetary urbanism, decarbonization, green economies, and community relocation.

My research and personal interests involve sustainability, which inherently is a future-oriented field of study because we must be environmentally, socially, and economically resilient for places to sustain and thrive. There were two main reasons I created this course: First, I want students to understand that governments must become more proactive with new technologies to reduce the social inequities they bring. Technology is moving very quickly, and because of people's attraction to money and novelty, we adapt to new technologies before governments understand how to incorporate them well into our democratic processes. Both planners and governments must be proactive with new technologies. Second, students need to learn that solving many issues associated with climate change and societal unrest will need to involve more ambitious experimentation with city design and urbanism. Both governments and markets have been too focused on incrementalist approaches that are not working at the scales we need.

Students will: • Understand what factors influence citizens and designers to plan for urban futurity. • Examine policy frameworks and initiatives that governments are implementing to facilitate the creation of more adaptive, resilient, and sustainable cities. • Evaluate how the governance of cities can adapt to better facilitate building intergenerational wealth for all in a future with widening income inequality.

Students will apply course content to produce a final paper (2,500 words for undergrad; 3,000 for graduate students) evaluating the environmental and social impacts of a major urban strategy or intervention that seeks to address future challenges to quality of life. This paper and preceding assignments will require directly engaging core literature, including data sources such as climate and economic projections as well as qualitative measures demonstrating how communities are coping with sustainability policies and projects.

All SDG's are relevant to the course, as they are a comprehensive overview of sustainability, and a truly sustainable place must address all of them. Depending on students' selections for the final paper, some SDG's would be more relevant than others.

Whether you are wildly passionate about sustainability or completely new to the topic, I look forward to having you in class!

Curriculum