AIMS AND CONTENT

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

A theoretical and practical approach to the new multidimensional condition of the contemporary city and territory is the main purpose of the course. The goal is to critically understand the relationships over time between "city and territory" (or more precisely between settlement and territory) in relation to integrated and innovative approaches, in particular in the sectors of evolutionary systems, contemporary urban systems and new technological capabilities. The approach focused on various analysis techniques, representation of urban-territorial systems (mapping, programming, scenario analysis, BIM, GIS, urban models, etc.) will be fundamental for the development of the course. 

The course aims to provide a set of tools for a critical and in-depth understanding of the phenomena of contemporary planetary urbanization, of technologies enabling the analysis of the urban phenomenon, of approaches to urban design based on the principles of sustainability and systemic eco-resilience. A prerequisite for grasping the determinants of the contemporary urban phenomenon (characterized by the development of hybrid urban systems, where the dimension of the ecosystemic evolution of environmental components is intertwined with that of social systems) is the knowledge of the "science of complexity", which will constitute the technical-cognitive basis for addressing the various issues. In order to pursue the established knowledge objectives, the method used is based on the direct use of IT tools (GIS - Geographical Information Systems, mapping, urban-territorial models, BIM and BIM-GIS) applied to the case studies.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures, seminars, workshops, group reports. Informational atlelier (Urban-Info-Lab)

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Urban theory and innovation

A) Introduction to the science of complexity
1) Fractals;
2) Network analysis;
3) Scale and power laws;
4) Evolution / evolutions;
5) Self-organization;
6) Models of competition / cooperation;
7) Methods of complexity: neural networks, cellular automata, multi-agent systems, genetic algorithms

B) Determinants of contemporary urbanization
1) Demographic facts and spatial distribution of populations;
2) Geographies of concentration: density and its gradients;
3) The spread in space of uses and functions;
4) The formation of the urban space: networks, relationships, flows and contacts;
5) Density, concentration and movement: defining the urban dimensions;
6) Forms of habitat growth: external, internal and high (role of technology)

C) Morphogenesis of the urban habitat
1) The opportunity and the constraint: resources and environmental conditions (place, settlement, environment);
2) The physical armor of the city: soils, paths, buildings (basic and specialized), fabrics (neighborhoods), urban emergence (organism-system);
3) The urban habitat: a complex hybrid socio-ecological system;
4) Morphogenesis and evolution of the settlement (permanence, additions, transformations) and settlement dynamics;
5) Urban and extra-urban: the ecological footprint of the settlement.

D) Urban habitat economies
1) Urban space and knowledge production; cities as incubators of creativity and production of innovation;
2) Economies of concentration: agglomeration, accessibility (localization and standard model), gravitation, competition;
3) Economic and financial cycles and urbanization;
4) Another factor of change: dynamics of aggregation and segregation;
5) Articulation of the urban: city systems and the evolution of hierarchical networks.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alberti, M. (2016). Cities That Think Like Planets: Complexity, Resilience, and Innovation in Hybrid Ecosystems. Seattle: UW Press.

Angel A., 2020, Planet of Cities, Cambrige (MA): Lincoln Institute.

Barthelemy, M. (2017) The Structure and Dynamics of Cities: Urban Data Analysis and Theoretical Modeling. Cambridge University Press.

Batty, M. (2013) The New Science of Cities. Cambridge (MA): The MIT Press.

Batty, M. (2018) Inventing Future Cities. Cambridge (MA): MIT Press.

Bettencourt, L. M. A. (2013) “The Origins of Scaling in Cities”. Science, 340: 1438-1441.

Brenner N.J. (ed). 2014, Implosions/Explosions. Toward a Study of Planetary Urbanization, Berlin: Jovis.

Douglas I., P. James, 2015 Urban Ecology: An Introduction. London. Routledge.

Florida R. 2017. The New Urban Crisis, New York: Basic Books.

Haas T., Westlund H. (eds), 2018, In the Post-urban World, New York: Routledge.

Lupia Palmieri E. e Parotto M. 2008. Il globo terrestre e la sua evoluzione. Bologna: Zanichelli Ed.

MacKinnon D., 2018. An Introduction to Economic Geography: Globalisation, Uneven Development and Place, New York: Routledge.

Mitchell, M., 2009. Complexity: a guided tour. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

Pumain, D. (2018) “An Evolutionary Theory of Urban Systems”, in: Rozenblat, C., Pumain, D., Velasquez, E. (Eds.), International and Transnational Perspectives on Urban Systems, Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences, pp. 3-18. Singapore: Springer.

Salat S., 2011. Cities and Forms: On Sustainable Urbanism, Paris: Hermann.

West, G. (2017) Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies. New York: Penguin Press.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

GIAMPIERO LOMBARDINI (President)

GERARDO BRANCUCCI

CHIARA FARINEA

LESSONS

LESSONS START

2020.09.23

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Delivery of an analytical-design paper on case study areaa (planning scenario of a territorial and urban scale) and an oral discussion on the topics covered in class. 

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Critical report and final discussion about course syllabus.