Universität Wien

233044 SE Creating urban spaces: invited and uninvited participation in city planning (2021S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

The course will start online using Zoom.

After Easter, depending on the general developments, teaching may move back to presence at the Department of Science and Technology Studies.

This course will take place on Thursday, from 16:00 to 18:00 on these dates:

11.03.2021 (Intro, Andrea Schikowitz) - digital
18.03.2021 (Andrea Schikowitz) - digital
25.03.2021 (Andrea Schikowitz) - digital
15.04.2021 (Ignacio Farías) - digital
22.04.2021 (Ignacio Farías) - digital
29.04.2021 (Ignacio Farias) - digital
06.05.2021 (Andrea Schikowitz)
20.05.2021 (Andrea Schikowitz)
27.05.2021 (Andrea Schikowitz)
10.06.2021 (Andrea Schikowitz)
17.06.2021 (Andrea Schikowitz)

  • Thursday 11.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital (Kickoff Class)
  • Thursday 18.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 25.03. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 15.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 22.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 29.04. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 06.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 20.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 27.05. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 10.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital
  • Thursday 17.06. 16:00 - 18:00 Digital

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

In this seminar, we follow a broad understanding of urban planning as ‘caring for place’ (Metzger 2014) by producing knowledge about and intervening in urban futures (Abbott 2005). We ask how participation in the creation of urban spaces is understood and practiced in different ways, which potential for transformation and change it holds and how it can be conceptualised from an STS point of view.

The seminar builds on inputs from the lecturer (Andrea Schikowitz) and the guest lecturer Ignacio Fárias (Professor for Urban Anthropology, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin). We will read and discuss selected texts and students will work in small groups to analyse a specific case of invited or uninvited participation in urban planning.

Urban planning is no longer regarded as a domain of expert-based, rational and centralised decision-making. Rather, we can observe a pluralisation of urban planning agents and an increasingly deliberative and experimental creation and shaping of urban spaces. Like in many other areas, also city planning has embraced calls for more participation and a ‘democratisation of expertise’. Simultaneously, also ‘uninvited’ participation in shaping urban spaces gains ground – examples are urban social movements and protest initiatives (like the occupy movement), alternative or collaborative housing, guerrilla gardening, art interventions, etc.
Attempts to include different voices into planning are intended not only to create space differently, but also to create different spaces that are better suited for diverse and changing needs and requirements. This involves the implementation and testing of new planning practices and technologies. The intersection of material, social, digital and epistemic practices and tools in urban planning has turned it into an increasingly interesting field for STS research, and STS approaches are found increasingly useful for investigating the urban.

Assessment and permitted materials

To pass the seminar, students are expected to complete the following tasks:

1) Read the relevant literature prior to coming to class, and prepare three reading cards on the assigned readings. A reading card is an important preparation for the class discussions and the seminar paper. It is a short document (1-2 pages), systematically summarising and analysing a paper (details in the handout). The deadline for each reading card is midnight before the seminar unit that discusses the assigned readings and it has to be uploaded to Moodle.

2) As a group work, you will elaborate and analyse a specific case of public participation in urban planning. The groups will choose a case (examples of possible cases will be provided by the lecturer), conduct (mostly online) research and develop a research question. The question is to be analysed by using concepts that are discussed in the seminar. The outcomes of the analysis are to be presented in class on May 20 or May 27 and to be summarised in an overview paper (2000 words) until June 13.

3) Write an individual seminar paper of 3000 words until July 31, 2021. Develop a question in relation to the seminar topic and elaborate it by using concepts that have been discussed in the seminar and/or other STS concepts. The paper may relate to the cases from the group work, but the question needs to be independent from the question you analysed in the group.

4) Active participation in class: Due to Covid-19 and (at least partly) transition to home-learning, participation is also expected to take place online. This includes answering discussion questions posted by lecturer on Moodle and contributions to the discussions in virtual and physical meetings. You are also expected to provide constructive feedback to each other.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The grading scheme is based on a total of 100 points. These points will be awarded in relation to students’ performance in meeting the course learning aims in the different obligatory tasks.
The maximum number of points to be acquired for each task is:

1) 3 reading cards – assessed individually, feedback on request – 24%
2) Case analysis, presentation and written summary – assessed as group work, feedback on request – 30%
3) Seminar paper – assessed individually, feedback on request – 36%
4) Active participation in class – assessed individually, feedback on request – 10%

Minimum requirements
A minimum of 50 points is necessary to successfully complete the course. Failure to meet the attendance regulations, to deliver course assignments on time or to adhere to standards of academic work may result in a deduction of points.

Grades
100-87 points Excellent (1)
86-75 points Good (2)
74-63 points Satisfactory (3)
62-50 points Sufficient (4)
49-0 points Unsatisfactory (5) (fail)

Attendance
Presence and participation is compulsory. Absences of four hours at maximum are tolerated, provided that the lecturer is informed about the absence. Absences of up to eight hours in total may be compensated by either a deduction of grading points or/and extra work agreed with the lecturer. Whether compensation is possible is decided by the lecturer.
Absences of more than eight hours in total cannot be compensated. In this case, or if the lecturer does not allow a student to compensate absences of more than four hours, the course cannot be completed and is graded as a ‘fail’ (5), unless there is a major and unpredictable reason for not being able to fulfil the attendance requirements on the student’s side (e.g. a longer illness). In such a case, the student may be de-registered from the course without grading. It is the student’s responsibility to communicate this in a timely manner, and to provide relevant evidence to their claims if necessary. Whether this exception applies is decided by the lecturer.

Important Grading Information
If not explicitly noted otherwise, all requirements mentioned in the grading scheme and the attendance regulations must be met. If a required task is not fulfilled, e.g. a required assignment is not handed in or if the student does not meet the attendance requirements, this will be considered as a discontinuation of the course. In that case, the course will be graded as ‘fail’ (5), unless there is a major and unpredictable reason for not being able to fulfill the task on the student's side (e.g. a longer illness). In such a case, the student may be de-registered from the course without grading. It is the student’s responsibility to communicate this in a timely manner, and to provide relevant evidence to their claims if necessary. Whether this exception applies is decided by the lecturer.
If any requirement of the course has been fulfilled by fraudulent means, be it for example by cheating at an exam, plagiarizing parts of a written assignment or by faking signatures on an attendance sheet, the student's participation in the course will be discontinued, the entire course will be graded as ‘not assessed’ and will be entered into the electronic exam record as ‘fraudulently obtained’. Self-plagiarism, particularly re-using own work handed in for other courses, will be treated likewise.

Examination topics

Reading list

The mandatory readings as well as recommended literature will be provided in the handout.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Fr 12.05.2023 00:20