City and Environment
- NINT 5284 - City and Environment (Fall 2008)
What are the sources and consequences of urban environmental degradation? What is the role of cities in broader patterns of environmental degradation? How do different social groups interpret this process and tackle (or ignore) its challenges? This course takes a political economy approach to environmental dynamics as they relate to the city, paying special attention to the role of globalization. Topics include the culture of consumption, movements for environmental justice, and the growing role of cities as political actors within transnational environmental politics. We will draw on (and build upon) case studies taken from New York - including an oil spill in Brooklyn and a sewage treatment plant in Harlem - as well as from urban Brazil, India and China. Assignments will include the use of mapping techniques to explore the spatial dimensions of urban environmental politics and to
better understand the challenges of "designing the livable city."
Concentrations:Cities and Urbanization, Development