TRP210 Urban Design & Place- making Autumn Module Coordinator: Dr Aidan While A3 group report and presentation & Individual report The nature and concerns of urban design Modernism and the contemporary context for urban design Social dimensions A visual design vocabulary Conservation and the historic built environment Design control
TRP215 European Urban Field Class Spring Module Coordinator: Alasdair Rae, Lee Crookes & Hendrik Wagenaar In addition to studying urban places and learning how they function in a traditional academic setting, our understanding can be greatly enhanced through the experience of field research. Therefore, the main part of this Level 2 module is comprised of a field class in the Randstad conurbation in the Netherlands. Preceding this, you must attend several preparatory lectures. This module will involve the study of urban planning, urban policy and urban governance in a European metropolitan setting. Students taking the module will consider a variety of relevant topics through field investigation. The course will require students to undertake designated field excursions to areas within the Randstad. Reflective field trip diary Prior to the field class there will be a series of preparatory lectures during the semester, at which attendance is essential. These sessions will set the scene for the field class and provide a greater understanding of the most pertinent topics, such as European spatial planning, transport issues in Europe, urban policy, and urban governance.
TRP216 Spatial Analysis Autumn Module Coordinator: Ed Ferrari It has been estimated that over 80% of all information is inherently spatial in nature, which means that it refers to a locatable place on Earth. One definition of planning is that it is primarily concerned with the mediation of space. Therefore the use of spatial information can be used to great effect by planners to help them in their understanding of urban issues; to improve policymaking; and to undertake statutory processes more effectively. In short, spatial analysis and the use of computerised Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can permit new ways of seeing and solving complex social and spatial problems. For these reasons, skills in Spatial Analysis and, in particular, the use of GIS are increasingly demanded of planners. Group Project & Individual Report The module will emphasise the hands-on development of practical skills in spatial analysis using GIS. Much of the contact time will be spent in computing laboratories, where students will be using a range of software packages, including ArcGIS and Microsoft Excel. There will be a mixture of lectures, guided practical workshops, self-guided tutorials and online activities.
TRP217 Profit, Planning & Context Spring Module Coordinator: Peter Bibby The module explores the relationship between the activities of profit-seeking business, the use and development of land and the planning activity. It provides an elementary introduction to understanding company performance and to the economics of land and property development and explores how these pressures interact with lifestyle choices to shape the use of land and property and the implication for public planning. The first part provides a brief introduction to measuring the performance of businesses and investments. The remainder of the module looks at the use of land and property for housing, retail, leisure, and employment uses in urban contexts Essay Perspectives Producing Urban Form: Speculative Housebuilding Producing Urban Form: Speculative Employment Producing Urban Form: Retailing Producing Urban Form: Leisure
TRP234 Urban Theory & Politics Autumn Module Coordinator: Dr Jamie Gough Part A shows that there are myriad social tensions within localities, giving rise to change and conflict. These have been addressed through a wide range of different political strategies, which give priority to different social interests. The second part of the lectures, Part B, looks at three broad political approaches, those of the Right, Centre and Left, and how they have been implemented at the local scale in recent decades. The difficulties encountered by these political projects are explored. This shows the wide degree of choice but also the high stakes involved in local-level politics, including in spatial planning and urban planning. 3 short essays Part A: A political economy of localities Local economies within global capitalism Local economies (continued). Work and home: the modern split Work and home (continued) The worker at home: how economies create distinct neighbourhoods The worker at home (continued). How neighbourhoods produce labour forces, or fail to How neighbourhoods produce labour forces (continued) Reproducing people: commodities and domestic work Social and physical infrastructures: private versus public provision 1 Social and physical infrastructures 2 Social and physical infrastructures 3 Land and buildings: private property, public interdependencies Land and buildings (continued). Community : good or bad, real or imagined? Community (continued) The creation of community and community action. Function and limits of the state in capitalist societies Function and limits of the state (continued) Part B: Political strategies within localities A history of (local) political strategies The Right, neoliberalism and localities The Right, neoliberalism and localities: a critique The Centre, social democracy and localities
The Centre, social democracy and localities: a critique The Left, local resistance and radical solutions
TRP235 The Development Process Spring Module Coordinator: Sarah Payne/ Victoria Henshaw MOLE test (25%), individual report (25%), individual design poster (15%) & design report (25%) Design The property market Property development Investment practice Financial viability Risk and uncertainty Planning, design and profit Development finance
TRP323 Planning Law & Development Control Level: 3 Spring Module Coordinator: Andy Inch 3 x 500 words blog entries & mock planning appeal hearing Law, legal systems, power and planning control Planning control: from development control to development management The planning application process The role of the development plan in development control Anatomy of the decision- making process After the decision Reform and future prospects for controlling development
TRP326 Values, Theory & Ethics in Spatial Planning Level: 3 Spring Module Coordinator: Hendrik Wagenaar The central question for this module is: how can planning (and urban policy-making) be done better? It uses insights from theoretical debates to explore the assumptions underlying spatial planning practice and the challenges confronting practitioners. The module examines the different cognitive and valuative frameworks available to planners in deciding how to act and in turn judge the appropriateness of their actions. It raises questions about the very nature of spatial planning and who benefits from current practices. The module addresses the following issues: what are the justifications for spatial planning and what goals should it have? What methods and approaches should guide the work of policy-makers and practitioners? How do planners make the normative leap from knowledge to action? Is the spatial planning system fair and just? What constitutes ethical action in spatial planning? Particular emphasis is placed on real world examples and the dilemmas faced by individual practitioners in conducting their day-to-day work. In the module, we draw upon experiences that derive from various work environments and (national) planning contexts. 3000 word paper Values in planning Planning theory Ethical issues
TRP331 Development Planning Level: 3 Autumn Module Coordinator: Dr Aidan While Across the world, preparing frameworks to control and guide future development is an essential part of land-use planning and regulation. Forward planning (or spatial planning) involves discussion and debate takes place about future priorities, providing the opportunity to develop strategies for improving quality of life and ensuring effective, sustainable and equitable development. This course gives an overview of the critical task of planning for future development. Much of this work involves making plans and strategies and there will be a focus on these activities during the course of this module. However, it is also vitally important to understand the contexts in which plans are made and implemented. The module initially focuses on forward planning in the UK planning system, but also aims to critically examine some of the key issues facing planners, including tensions around organising public involvement in plan-making, the difficulties in seeking consensus between conflicting interests in development, and problems in implementation. These issues provide the basis for international comparison in the second half of the module. 2000 words report (40%) & 2500 words essay (60%) Conceptualising development planning History of development planning in the UK The Labour government and English development planning LDFs and the reformed planning system The coalition government and English development planning Spatial scale and national variations Sustainable development and development plans
TRP333 Environmental Policy and Planning Level: 3 Autumn Module Coordinator: Matthew Cotton, Aidan While & Sarah Payne This unit provides an overview of principal elements of contemporary environmental issues and institutional frameworks for policy delivery, with a particular emphasis on the overarching challenge posed by climate change. It focuses on the contested and complex nature of policy making, and thus has the twin aims of familiarising students with an important policy field and developing a more generally applicable critical approach to understanding policy. Group work (30%) & Individual work (70%) Climate change as a cross- cutting environmental policy issue Sustainability and environmental justice Policy making and critical policy analysis Coastlines & oceans Non- renewable energy Biodeiversity Watershet management Renewable energy Policy- making in a democracy The role of planners and researchers in environmental policy making