SOC188 City: place, space, society

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2009
Extent and Intensity
1/1. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. RNDr. Luděk Sýkora, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Ing. Radim Marada, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Timetable
each even Wednesday 12:00–15:40 U34
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 40 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/40, only registered: 0/40, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/40
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The main objectives of the course are: the understanding of a city as the result of societal organization in space; the comprehension of principles, mechanisms and processes of formation and reorganization of urban systems. The city is seen as: place within wider societal and global space; internally structured and differentiated space consisting of a plurality of diverse yet mutually related places; specific place in landscape characterized by high density and integration of social relations, enormous internal variability and strong impact on region in its hinterland; place that offer high potential for creativity and innovation generation, at the same time being a locality of potential social conflicts and societal risks as well as cooperation, synergies, cultural plurality and toleration; place with opportunity as well as threat for sustainable development. The city is studied from a plurality of perspectives emphasizing the most important epistemologies, theories and concepts from history and contemporary debates. Students should be able to: understand and interpret the city from interdisciplinary perspective; understand the complexity, integrity and differentiation of urban places; comprehend objective features as well as various subjective representations of the urban; combine positive analysis, critical evaluation and normative proposals for social and political action.
Syllabus
  • City: place in space, space within place: What is city? Definition of a city. City in landscape, landscapes in city. Place. Space. Dialectics of place and space.
  • Tuning mirrors: model, explanation, interpretation: Epistemologies: How to understand the city? Social ecology, political economy, post-structuralism.
  • City and society: Urban way of life. Urban environment, capitalism, advance division of labor.
  • City spaces (from Chicago to Los Angeles): Internal spatial structure of a city: order or coincidence?
  • Quo vadis urbi? Global city and local urban restructuring: Social and economic restructuring of contemporary cities, its conditions and consequences.
  • Urban mosaic and its change: segregation, gentrification, suburbanization. New socio-spatial formations: gated communities, edge a edgeless cities. Transformations processes and changing localities.
  • Urban growth and capital (who decides?) Socio-spatial dialectic (agency and/or structure?) Social construction of urban images (who shapes the reality?): Power of capital, uneven spatial development, human activities in time-space, representation of place and space.
  • City: place in space, space within place: Concluding seminar: presentation and discussion of seminar papers.
Literature
  • Literatura je dostupná v ISu (složka Studijní materiály předmětu).
Assessment methods
Teaching methods: lectures, reading of compulsory and recommended literature, class discussion, preparation and presentations of seminar papers on given theme. Requirements for accomplishment: elaboration and presentations of seminar paper, 3000 words, presentation oral and visual. Assessment takes into account originality of thought, argumentation, incorporation of knowledge gained in the course, formal qualities, presentation and discussion. Evaluation: 75% for seminar paper and 25% for presentation and discussion at the final seminar.
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2008, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2009/SOC188