VGU Urban Development Planning Overview over Modules and ...

Technical University Darmstadt www.urban-studies.de
International
Co-operation
and Urban
Development
Course description
Year One
1 Course identification
2.5.1.A
2 Module
3
Urban Sociology
Name of course Socio-economic and cultural challenges
4 Course instructor Prof. Dr. Jaqueline Polvora, UFRGS Porto Alegre
5 Contents /syllabus The subject of this module is to review the processes
of economic, political, social and cultural
transformation that are currently occurring in Asia,
Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. The
objective is to gain an understanding of the historical
and contemporary contexts in which diverse societies
and people act and, in turn, are influenced by forces in
our interdependent world.
This course also examines race and class dynamics in
urban development, and how patterns of urban
inequality are being influenced by the ‘new economy’.
Today’s cities are fundamentally shaped by inequality
and conflict, as different social groups mobilize
political and economic resources in an effort to
improve their individual socio-economic
circumstances. Rapid globalization and the rise of the
information economy, however, are resulting in rapidly
changing patterns of employment, economic
opportunities and political power. Understanding these
changes, how they differ in different locations, and
how they are affecting patterns of inequality and
economic opportunity, is both critical for understanding
patterns of urbanization, and essential for promoting
more equitable, livable, and sustainable cities.
Through an integrated approach that links theory and
case studies, we will examine the following issues
which are central to the study of comparative social
change and development:
• Concepts of modernization and development
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