(Urban Planning & Policy 1) 02.541 Urban Planning and Socio-Spatial Thinking

This course introduces the historical and contemporary bases of urban planning as a process and practice, with a focus on developing a socio-spatial mind in approaching urban interventions critically and practically. It is designed to equip students to understand the scope of urban planning in the development of cities and regions, and how urban planners think and make decisions about land use and design of public places to meet social, economic, political, and environmental goals.

A core pedagogic aim of the course is the emphasis of how theories and histories of planning translate in practice. For this purpose, the course is interspersed with opportunities to get you out of the comfort of the armchair and into the city as a live laboratory in which you will observe, document, and analyze the actual dynamics of city making, vis-à-vis what has been theorized and written about urban planning.

As part of the integrative MUSPP programme curation, this course will help students learn about how the urban realm is scientifically studied and investigated and forms a part of planning research that informs urban planning and policy decisions.

Instructor: Dr Felicity Hwee-Hwa Chan
Time: Wednesday (2-5pm)
Venue: Think Tank 1 (1.308)

Week 1: Introduction: Planning Education
Week 2: Setting the Context: What is Urban, Urbanization, and Urbanism?
Week 3: Emergence of Modern Urban Planning
Week 4: Urban Planning in Singapore 1
Week 5: Urban Planning in Singapore 2
Week 6: “Asian” Urbanism
Week 7: Recess week
Week 8: Socio-spatial Thoughts and Implications for Urban Planning
Week 9: Looking at a city in flux: Alone and Together
Week 10: Urban Planning Practice 1: Values, Politics, Institutions
Week 11: Urban Planning Practice 2: Negotiation
Week 12: Workshop on Urban Change
Week 13 & 14: Reflections on urban planning: Digital, Smart, and Inclusive?