GY459 Half Unit
Global Urbanism
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Prof Gareth Jones
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MSc in Urbanisation and Development. This course is available on the MSc in Development Management (Political Economy), MSc in Development Management (Political Economy) (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Environment and Development, MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environment and Development) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Human Geography and Urban Studies (Research) and MSc in Inequalities and Social Science. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If the course is over-subscribed, places will be allocated at the Department’s discretion and a waiting list may be created. For further details, please contact your relevant Programme Coordinator.
Course content
This course provides a grounding in key debates in urban studies with specific reference to the Global South. It highlights the interconnections between urban theory, research and policy. Anticipated topics include The City and Comparative Urbanism; Critical Urban Theory; Neoliberalism and Financialisation; Urban Governance and Citizenship; Social Life of Cities; Peripheral Urbanism; Housing Cities; Migration and Labour. Lectures will draw from staff research, with particular emphasis on Brazil, Ghana, India, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa and Tanzania.
Teaching
15 hours of seminars and 15 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.
In the Department of Geography and Environment, teaching will be delivered through a combination of classes/seminars, pre-recorded lectures, live online lectures and other supplementary interactive live activities.
Formative assessment
Students will have the opportunity to complete a mock exam.
Indicative reading
A comprehensive reading list mostly focussing on articles will be provided. Useful books include:
- A. Amin & N. Thrift, Seeing like a City (2016);
- A. Amin & M. Lancione (eds), Grammars of the Urban Ground (2022);
- G. Bhan, The Routledge Companion to Planning in the Global South (2017);
- S. Chant & C. McIlwaine, Cities, Slums and Gender in the Global South (2016);
- R. de Satge & V. Watson, Urban Planning in the Global South: conflicting rationalities in contested space (2019);
- S. Fox & T. Goodfellow, Cities and Development (2016);
- E. Glaeser, Triumph of the City (2012);
- M. Lancione & C. McFarlane (eds), Global Urbanism: knowledge, power and the city (2021);
- C. Lemanski & C. Marx (eds) The City and Urban Poverty, (2015);
- F. Miraftab ;N. Kudva (eds) Cities of the Global South Reader, (2015);
- M. Murray, The Urbanism of Exception: the dynamics of global-city building in the twenty-first century (2017);
- S. Parnell & E. Pieterse, Africa's Urban Revolution (2014);
- J. Robinson, Comparative Urbanism: Tactics for Global Urban Studies (2022);
- R. Rolnik, Urban Warfare: Housing under the Empire of Finance (2019);
- P. Sendra & R. Sennett, Designing Disorder: experiments and disruptions in the city (2020);
- A. Simone & E. Pieterse, New urban worlds: Inhabiting dissonant times (2018).
Assessment
Exam (70%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period
Presentation (30%)
This component of assessment includes an element of group work.
Key facts
Department: Geography and Environment
Course Study Period: Autumn Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 36
Average class size 2024/25: 18
Controlled access 2024/25: YesCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Specialist skills