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Unit information: Ethnicity, Class and Housing in the City in 2020/21

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Unit name Ethnicity, Class and Housing in the City
Unit code GEOG30020
Credit points 20
Level of study H/6
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Professor. David Manley
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

Spatial Modelling 2

Co-requisites

None

School/department School of Geographical Sciences
Faculty Faculty of Science

Description including Unit Aims

The United Nations recently reported that over half the world’s population lives in urban areas. Within Europe and the United States of America this proportion is much higher (82% and 73% respectively). Thus, understanding how the urban environment operates is crucial for the wider social, economic and developmental transformations that modern society is undergoing. The unit will introduce key concepts through scholarly debates relating to the theoretical basis, empirical investigation and substantive investigation of urban sites focusing on the European and American experiences as illustrations. The course tackles three major aspects of the urban environment:

  1. How do urban areas vary over time and space? How have they developed and changed over time?
  2. How are social relations played out in the city? What processes impact residents the most, how and where?
  3. How does the city shape those social relations? The regenerations of cities have stubbornly failed to reinvigorate many urban spaces and as a result they have reinforced inequalities in space.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit you should:

  1. Be able to critically engage in theoretical and empirical debates surrounding the key concepts in urban Geography.
  2. Be able to understand the complexities of the relationships between urban space and the individuals that inhabit it.
  3. Appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of the studies of urban environments. Whilst clearly rooted in the geographic tradition, acknowledgement of the contributions that sociology and economics in particular have made should be demonstrated.
  4. Demonstrate an appreciation and understanding of the multiple modes of inquiry used in urban geography including but not limited to ethnography along with qualitative and quantitative analysis.
  5. Be able to use quantitative analysis to substantiate and evidence wider arguments from the urban geography literature
  6. Demonstrate an appreciation of the debates in urban geography and make critical evaluations of the literature.

The following transferable skills are developed in this Unit:

  • Written and verbal communication
  • Analytical skills
  • Evidence-based argument
  • Critical interpretative thinking

Teaching Information

The unit will be taught through a blended combination of online and, if possible, in-person teaching, including

  • online resources
  • synchronous group workshops, seminars, tutorials and/or office hours
  • asynchronous individual activities and guided reading for students to work through at their own pace
  • computer practical work; students who either begin or continue their studies in an online mode may be required to complete practical work, or alternative activities, in person, either during the academic year 2020/21 or subsequently, in order to meet the intended learning outcomes for the unit, prepare them for subsequent units or to satisfy accreditation requirements.

Assessment Information

The unit will include both formative and summative assessment. The formative assessment requires students to participate in seminar discussions and presentations throughout the course.

Summative assessment will comprise two elements:

  1. Analytical report, linking substantive empirical question to quantitative analysis (2000 words). (50%) (ILOs 1-5)
  2. One 3000-word essay at the end of the unit (50%) (ILOs 1-4,6)

Reading and References

The majority of the reading will be provided on a weekly basis consisting of journal articles. These are supplemented with the following key texts:

Essential Reading

Pacione, M. (2009). Urban geography: A global perspective. Routledge. (3rd Edition)

Finney, N., & Simpson, L. (2009). Sleepwalking to segregation'?: challenging myths about race and migration. Policy Press.

Lees, L., Slater, T. and Wyly, E. (2008) Gentrification (Routledge).

Wacquant, L. (2011). Urban Outcasts. Polity Press.

Wilson, W. J. (1987) The truly disadvantaged: The inner city, the underclass, and public policy. University of Chicago Press.

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