ATS2547 - Cities and sustainability - 2017

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

Human Geography

Coordinator(s)

Michele Hartz-Rozenberg

Unit guides

Offered

Clayton

  • First semester 2017 (Day)

Notes

The unit has a domestic field tripdomestic field trip (http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/currentstudents/field-trips/) component and may incur an additional cost.

Synopsis

Cities are dynamic and complex environments that now comprise the majority of the world we live in but they face an array of major challenges. These include: How do we make our cities more habitable and sustainable? How do we ensure social, economic, cultural, political and environmental equality? How does the geography of cities and urban systems affect their sustainability? Have cities ever been sustainable and can they be in the future? How do we manage urban growth or decline? In this unit students will examine how contemporary cities operate by focussing on urban processes and functions, as well as relevant issues such as population, the economy, governance, resource use, housing and transport.

Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will have developed the following key competencies and capacities. You will be able to:

  1. Describe and apply the concept of sustainability to urban form and function;
  2. Explain urban sustainability in relation to the environment, economy, society and politics;
  3. Identify unsustainable urban policies and practices and suggest effective methods of improving sustainability;
  4. Utilise selected geographic research skills and concepts relevant to sustainability in an urban context.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 70% + Exam: 30%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement. + Additional requirements + fieldtrip

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Geographical science

Human geography

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units.

Prohibitions

ATS3547, AZA2547, AZA3547