Universitat Internacional de Catalunya - Barcelona

Introduction to Emergency and Urban Development

• code 12081
• course 1
• term Semester 1
• type OB
• credits 3

Main language of instruction: English

Head instructor

Dra. María del Carmen MENDOZA - cmendoza@uic.es

Office hours

Teaching staff are available by appointment through email.

Professors:

Mbongeni Ngulube

Dr Apen Ruiz

This is an introductory course to the content, specific vocabulary and bibliography of the Master. It aims to set up the base for the courses that will follow, in order to familiarise the students. The introductory sessions will be ranging from Emergency to urban development, going through the concepts of gender and finishing with development theory.

The course intends to give an overview of the main topics the students will encounter during the master such as: Humanitarian shelter and settlements; Urban regeneration and upgrading, and the theory of development. 

To introduce the challenges and debate around sustainable urbanism and upgrading strategies.

To introduce the concept design with culture as a key issue for sustainable development. To provide an overview of the main case studies and intervention strategies.

To gain a broad understanding of development theory and practice since inception and prior. To debate the nature and outcome of development practice.

• 01 - That students apply the knowledge acquired and the capacity to solve problems in underpriviledged places in multidisciplinary contexts related to the area of international cooperation.
• 02 - That students may be capble of integrating knowledge and face the complexity of formulating their opinion from information which may be incomplete or limited, and that include reflections on the ethic and social responsibilities related to the area of cooperation and arquitecture in post disaster situations.
• 05 - Aquire a methodolgy based on interdisciplinary criteria in order to develop sustainable architectural projects.
• 10 - Be capable of developing a critical analysis through the selection of global urban developmpent criteria and relate them to local administrative models.
• 11 - Be capable of understanding the needs in order to give multidisciplinary responses to complex problems related to urban planning
• 12 - Be capable of developing a theoretical framework regarding all the main points of a planning process, from the territorial to the intermediate scale.
• 14 - To know and apply the practical and theoretical principles for the conservation of sustainable resources in urban development.
• 15 - To know how to extract global identity factors aplicable to local territorial situations
• 18 - Be capable of proposing action plans to prevent human and material disasters
• 19 - To propose and develop constructive techniques based on local cultures and materials
• 21 - Saber aplicar los conocimientos en técnicas constructivas low-cost, fundamentales y universales, aplicables a todos aquellos países en fase de desarrollo o afectados por catástrofes naturales y humanas.
• 23 - To be albe to elaborate a critical analysis of development projects at all scales implemented by international cooperation agencies and local entities.
• 25 - To know how to apply the knowledge acquired of the 'macro logic' tool for the planning and management of international cooperation projects
• 26 - To be capable of developing, through a critical analysis, a manual that defines from a systemic point of view the priority of intervention for projects developed by international cooperation agencies.
• 27 - To know how to apply the methodologies applied by the international cooperation agencies and local entities
• 28 - To learn how to develop research in the academic and profesional context of the Master and to be able to comunicate the results to a specialized jury

Students will understand the complex economic and social factors of urban upgrading towards a sustainable outcome.

Students will delve into the strategic value of cultural resources in order to reinforce local identity and community engagement.

Students will identify the opportunities for local development based on the cultural heritage, and will apply intervention strategies properly adjusted to the specific context.

Students will gain a critical stance toward apprehending development and related issues. Personal perspectives with theoretical support will be encouraged. The course will cover the basic protagonists in mainstream and critical development theory.

The course will cover these aspects:

1. Introduction to the concept of urban environmental and social justice

2. Understanding the main themes involved in urban upgrading in developing contexts.

3. Case studies and methodology for sustainable upgrading strategies.

4. Introduction to the concept design with culture

5. Cultural landscapes and regional development. Case studies and methodology

6. Cultural landscapes and governance. Social and political issues

7. Understanding development: A discussion on various definitions and formats using selected bibliography.

8. A simple history of development and some thought regarding what influenced the change(s).

9. Critical perspectives on development and current debates and speculations from selected contemporary bibliography

 Lectures, text analysis, class discussions and writing sessions.

Participation is compulsory and will count toward the final mark. Learning these broad subjects is best accomplished through debate. The student will write an article review which, along with class participation, accounts for their final grade.

Basic bibliography listed below, class material will be provided prior.

ALANEN, A. R. & MELNICK, R. Z. (eds.) (2000) Preserving Cultural Landscapes in America. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

BRINKERHOFF, J. M. (2011). David and Goliath: Diaspora Organisations as Partners in the Development Industry. Public Admin. Dev. 31, 37-49.

ESCOBAR, A. (1995). Encountering Development: The making and unmaking of the Third World. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

ESCOBAR, A., (2001). Culture sits in places: reflections on globalism and subaltern strategies of localization. Political Geography, (20), pp. 139-174.

FERNANDES, E. , (2011). Regularization of Informal Settlements in Latin America. Cambridge: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

HAYDEN, D. (1995) The Power of Place. Urban Landscapes as Public History, MIT Press, Cambridge.

JACKSON, J. B. (1984) Discovering the Vernacular Landscape. New Haven: Yale University Press.

LEYS, C. (2008). The Rise and Fall of Development Theory. In M. Edelman, & A. Haugerud (Eds.), The Anthropology of Development and Globalization:From Classical Political Economy to Contemporary Neoliberalism (pp. 109-125). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

MENDOZA ARROYO, C., Ngulube, M., & Colacios Parra, R. (Eds.). (2011). Reflections on Development and Cooperation. Barcelona: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya.

NGULUBE, M. (2011). Development and the Dependency Cycle: The [re]production of poverty in SubSaharan Africa. In

C. Mendoza Arroyo, M. Ngulube, & R. Colacios Parra (Eds.), Reflections on Development and Cooperation (pp. 19-32). Barcelona: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya.

NUSTAD, K. G. (2001). Development: The devil We Know. Third World Quarterly, Vol.22, No.4, 479-489.

POLVORA, J. B. (2011). Debating Development: Contributions from Anthropology. In C. Mendoza Arroyo, M. Ngulube, & R. Colacios Parra (Eds.), Reflections on Development and Cooperation (pp. 9-18). Barcelona: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya.

RIST, G. (2002). The History of Development. From Western Origins to Global Faith. London: Zed Books

SABATÉ, J.; SCHUSTER, J. M. (2001) Designing the Llobegat Corridor. Cultural Landscapes and Regional Development. Barcelona. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

SACHS, W. (1992). The Development Dictionary, A guide to knowledge as power. London: Zed Books.

STOKES, S. N.; WATSON, E. & MASTRAN, S. S. (1989) Saving America’s Countryside, Johns Hopkins University Press, London.

VALL, P. (2008) “Revisión metodológica sobre el planeamiento de un paisaje cultural. El Plan Director Urbanístico de las Colonias del Llobregat”, Urban 13, 122-136. Madrid. Departamento de Urbanística y Ordenación del Territorio.