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 in relation to integrated and innovative approaches, in particular in the fields of evolutionary systems, contemporary urban systems and new technological capabilities. The approach focused on various analysis and design 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 presents a theoretical and practical approach to the new multidimensional condition of the contemporary city and territory. The goal is to deepen the relationships over time between "city and territory" in relation to integrated and innovative approaches.

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:
- know the global dynamics of the contemporary urban phenomenon;
- represent cities and urban systems and their evolution;
- describe the city-territory relations both from a physical morphological and an economic and social point of view;
- describe and evaluate the relationships between settlement and environment;
- use planning approaches oriented towards urban sustainability and resilience;
- use tools for urban design and control of transformations;
- evaluate the effectiveness of territorial transformation actions, through the construction of scenes
 - use the tools of mapping, programming, scenario analysis, BIM, GIS, urban models.

TEACHING METHODS

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

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

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.

E) Geodesign and 3d city models (introducing City Engine software)

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.

D'acci L., Batty M (eds), 2019, The Mathematics of Urban Morphology, Birkhauser. 

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

Fujita M., Krugman P., The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade, Cambridge, MIT Press. 

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

Marshall, S., 2009, Cities, Design & Evolution. London and New York, London: Routledge..

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

Neal Z.P., Rozenblat C., 2021, Handbook of Cities and Networks, London: Edwrd Elgar. 

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

LESSONS

LESSONS START

https://corsi.unige.it/9915/p/studenti-orario

Class schedule

L'orario di tutti gli insegnamenti è consultabile all'indirizzo 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 of the course.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The methods of evaluation the skills acquired will take place through:

1. Oral discussion on the topics of the course in which the sudent have to demonstrate the ability to:

- know the global dynamics of the contemporary urban phenomenon;

- represent cities and urban systems and their evolution;

- describe the city-territory relations, both from a physical morphological and an economic and social point of view;

- describe and evaluate the relationships between settlement and environment;

- use planning approaches oriented towards urban sustainability and resilience;

2. The delivery of a project booklet on Argentina's Middle Valley, in which the studente have to demonstrate the ability to:

- use tools for urban design and control of transformations;

- evaluate the effectiveness of territorial transformation actions, through the construction of scenarios;

- use the tools of mapping, urban design 3d.