Bachelor of Arts (BA) - The University of Hong Kong

188GEOG2062.China: the land and the people (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)This is an introductory course about the evolving physical, cultural and political landscape of China.Emphasis is placed on (a) the natural environment and physical setting for development; (b) historicalgeography and evolution of the landscape; (c) the political system and post-1949 development; and (d)the growth and spatial distribution of population. The purpose is to assist students to better understandthe process of economic restructuring and spatial transformation in the context of a rapidly growingsocialist country. This course is the co-requisite/pre-requisite for GEOG2002. China developmentissues.Assessment: 40% coursework, 60% examination.This course will be offered in the second semester.GEOG2063.Energy and environment # (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)The course will provide a fundamental understanding of the relationships between energy and mineralresources exploitation and major environmental problems. It will involve studies of renewable andnon-renewable energy and mineral resources, their abundance and distribution, production andconsumption patterns, and factors that affecting the formulation of energy and mineral exploitationpolicies. Energy and mineral conversion technology will be briefly introduced, and followed bydiscussion on environmental impacts caused by large scale consumption of energy and mineralresources, in particular, fossil fuels. Special attention will be directed to major energy relatedenvironmental problems, such as, urban smog, acid rain and greenhouse effect.Assessment: 40% coursework, 60% examination.This course will be offered in the first semester.GEOG2065.Urban planning: principles and practices (6 credits)(This course is also offered to second and third year non-BA students for inter-Faculty broadeningpurposes.)This course introduces students to the subject of urban planning. It will first discuss the significance andobjectives of urban planning, relating the rise of this profession to the changing configurations of ourincreasingly urbanizing world. Then, drawing upon primarily the experiences of the United States,some of the major concepts and issues relating to contemporary urban planning practice will bedeliberated. These include competing planning theories on the planning process, the legal basis ofplanning as well as the interrelationships between planning, politics and social issues. The questions ofland use planning, urban design, urban renewal, and environmental planning will be highlighted andexperiences from the United States and Hong Kong will be discussed and contrasted to illustrate thecomplexity of urban planning issues in different geographical, political and social settings. Students arestrongly encouraged to take one of the basic foundation courses on urban geography before enrolling inthis course.Assessment: 40% coursework, 60% examination.This course will be offered in the first semester.# = Course to be offered in biennial odd year, i.e. in 2003-04, 2005-06 and so on.