Course Description
The history of urban forms, from early Neolithic settlement to the contemporary global city-region, with emphasis on specific plans, projects, and events to illustrate urban processes within diverse cultural and historical contexts.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
All students are required to complete history of urban planning
and theory lectures, readings, exams, final papers, and
participate in class discussions. Undergraduate student papers
may be from secondary sources only; graduate students will be
expected to include primary source research in their paper.
Graduate students will additionally lead a class discussion
advancing the body of knowledge of planning theory.
Athena Title
History of Urban Planning
Prerequisite
LAND 2510 or LAND 2510E or permission of school
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The course is designed to help students understand urban processes in form and environment over time. Drawing on material from various cultures and traditions, there is an emphasis on specific plans, projects, and events to illustrate these urban processes. The course includes student-generated knowledge through individual presentations, which helps to develop research and synthesis skills, along with oral and graphic communication skills. There is a midterm exam principally to help students synthesize the material up to that point. The final assignment is a fifteen-page term paper due at the end of the semester, which develops historical planning and design research skills, and writing skills.
Topical Outline
Weekly Lectures will cover these urban history and theory topics: Week 1 Introduction Week 2 Ancient Town Planning Week 3 Town Planning in Asia Week 4 Medieval Town Planning Week 5 Renaissance and Baroque Town Planning Week 6 Colonial Town Planning in the New World Week 7 Eighteenth-Century Town Planning in Europe Week 8 Mid-Term Exam Week Week 9 Spring Break Week 10 Nineteenth-Century Town Planning in Europe Week 11 Nineteenth-Century United States: An Egalitarian Geography Week 12 Twentieth-Century Modern American Town Planning Week 13 The Informal City Week 14 Los Angeles / Barcelona Week 15 Global Modern Week 16 Future Narratives
Syllabus