Special Area: The Modern Metropolis
I. History of Cities
a. What makes a city a city?
b. Early cities
c. The City-State
d. Industrialization & The Rise of Modern Cities
e. Why is everyone moving to cities? An urbanizing world - immigration - movement - the new hunter-gatherers.
II. The Shape of the City
a. City planning
b. Public transportation
c. Housing (Gentrification) (Slums) (Segregation)
d. Urban sprawl
e. Suburbs - new urbanism
f. walled cities --- growing cities -- megalopolis
III. Urban Culture
a. The Different “Personalities” of Modern Cities
b. Theories of Urban Culture (Key Concepts in Urban Studies) Are cities in different countries more alike than a city and a town in the same country?
c. Psychology of Modern Cities
IV. Sustainable Cities
a Problems in Cities (Homelessness, Crime, Traffic etc.)
b. Feeding/Powering/Protecting the City (NYC Blackout, Mumbai Flood, Katrina etc.)
c. Environmental problems/environmental justice (often tied to housing)
d Social Justice movements in cities
V. The Urban Future
a. imaginary cities - gotham, oz, etc.
