290109 PS Contemporary Challenges in Urban Development (2017S)

The course “Contemporary Challenges in Urban Development” comprises the topics of contemporary issues and strategies in urban development policies. Starting with theoretical debates on US-American and European cities, Vienna will serve as an “urban laboratory” to examine these topics on-site, from various perspectives, and in a contextual manner. Perspectives of urban development will be discussed at different spatial levels and explained by theoretical concepts and empirical evidence.

Theoretical concepts discussed in this course will comprise a variety of economic and sociological approaches as well as geographic theories.

This course truly benefits from the daily relevancy of urban development for society, policy, environment, and economics. Therefore, the link between theoretical approaches and society is provided by discussing issues of urban development on-site on selected projects of urban development in the city of Vienna. Applied fieldwork and analyses, including surveys as well as qualitative interviews, observations, or mapping aim at putting knowledge and skills acquired in this section into practice. Smaller empirical projects organized by the students themselves are foreseen. These projects contribute to a set of mini case studies which is available for a joint writing project for an academic paper.

The following aims should be reached:
- Gain an overview about the current issues of urban development in North American and European cities
- Identify and analyse the local context by focusing on the relevant actors networks and political framework conditions
- Strengthen the ability to analyse and to present specific research questions in an independent way
- Practice the communicative skills and competences necessary for dealing with planners and politicians
- Improve the academic writing skills that contribute empirical results to an academic debate