Syllabus

Course Description:

We will examine metropolitan growth and development in some large cities that have risen rapidly in the twentieth century. We will compare the physical, economic, political, and social circumstances that account for variations and similarities in metropolitan form.

Our primary examples will be drawn from all corners of the globe: in the United States, we will consider Denver; in Canada, we will look at Toronto; in Australia, we will examine Melbourne; in Asia, we will investigate Singapore, and in South America, we will explore Brasilia.

Course Requirements (and % of grade assigned to each)

1) Writing Assignments (25% total)
     a) Choose any large city in the world (population over 1 million and outside of the United States). It should not be one of the cities covered in class lectures (if you are not certain, check with me). Summarize how it has changed over the course of the twentieth century. Include basic demographic information (at the very least, population figures from 1900, mid-century, and 2000), and describe important political, economic, physical and social changes between 1900 and 2000. If there was any one particular historical development that you want to focus on, that's fine, but you must still also describe the general history of the city. You must use at least one book, and at least one scholarly journal article. (5-6 pages, 10%)
      b) A three-part assignment based upon the computer simulation program SIMCITY. Click here for assignment details.

2) Discussion Section (10%)
      Each student must sign up for and attend one of the four discussion sections. Each group will meet six times (every other week) during the term. The TA, Susan Gladstone, will coordinate the sign-up process during the first week of classes. There will be two available time slots for discussions: Tuesdays 5pm-6pm, and Thursdays 5:30-6:30.

3) Participation in the Courseworks discussion board. (5%)
You will be expected to participate regularly in this virtual discussion. You should plan to post about one message every two weeks, at the least. With your help, it will be a thought-provoking and wide-ranging conversation about modern urbanism around the world.

4) Exams (60%)
a) Mid-Term Exam (25%)
b) Final Exam (35%)
Exams will be based upon materials presented in lectures, as well as material posted on, or linked to, the course website. The exams will consist of both short-answer identifications and short-essay questions.

Note: It is expected and encouraged that students will discuss class material with each other, in the spirity of intellectual exploration. However, no graded work for this class, including the assignments described above and any messages posted on the course discussion board, may be the product of collaboration and all work for the class must be completed in accordance with the Barnard Honor Code. COlumbia students commit themselves to the Honor Code upon registering for a Barnard course. The code says, in part, that it is dishonest to ask for, give, or receive help in exams, or to present written work that is not entirely your own.

Program Planning notes:
1) for Barnard students, this class counts towards the General Education Requirements under three categories: Cultures in Comparison,
Historical Studies, and Social Analysis
2) for Urban Studies majors, this class counts towards the "A" and/or specialization requirements, in both cases as a History course

January 16	Introduction	Course overview, and a conceptual framework for comparing cities
January 18	Denver	19th Century Growth, Boss Speer and City Beautiful Movement
January 23	Denver	Automobility Policies, The Denver Tramway, Ben Stapleton
January 25	Denver	Ben Stapleton, World War II, Quig Newton
January 30	Denver	Annexation, Suburbanization, Denver-Boulder Turnpike, 470
February 1	Denver	Aurora, Stapleton Airport, DIA, Reinventing Downtown
February 6	Melbourne	Background, MMBW ('The Board"), Between the Wars
February 8	Melbourne First SIMCITY journal due	Meyer's Emporium, Housing, Suburbanization, Regionalism
February 13	Melbourne	1956 Olympics, Urban Renewal, Public Housing, Chadstone, Highways , 1953 Plan
February 15	Melbourne	Social Housing, 1970s Growth Control, Infill, Consolidation, Amalgamation
February 20	Melbourne	1980s/90s Downtown and waterfront redevelopment
February 22	Singapore research paper due
February 27	Singapore	Hutongs to Highrises
March 1	1939 World's Fair	The Iconography of Hope: the cities of the future? Norman Bel Geddes' Magic Motorways (GM Futurama)
March 6	1939 World's Fair	Lewis Mumford and "The City"
March 8	MIDTERM EXAM
	SPRING BREAK
March 20	Latin American Cities	Rio, Sao Paolo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires
March 22	Brasilia	Kubitschek and the Idea of a new capital for Brazil
March 27	Brasilia 2nd SIMCITY journal due	LeCorbusier, Niemeyer, Costa, and The Pilot Plan
March 29	Brasilia	Building Brasilia, the Superquadras, Living in The Pilot Plan
April 3	Brasilia	Satellite Cities, Migration Patterns, Brasilia as it turned out
April 5	Latin American Cities	Favelas, squatters, urban-to-rural migration
April 10	Toronto	19th Century Background, emergence as Regional Hub
April 12	Toronto SIMCITY paper due	The City That Works, Unplanned Suburbs, metropolitan expansion
April 17	Toronto	Amalgamation, highway revolt, competition with Montreal
April 19	Toronto	Immigration, residential Intensification, new Plans
April 24	Cities of the Future	Globalization, "the Barcelona Blueprint", etc.
April 26	Putting it all together, Review
MAY 8	FINAL EXAM (1:10-4:00 pm)