TCP8921 : Global Urban Challenges
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Dr Gabriel Silvestre
- Lecturer: Dr Cat Button, Dr William Otchere-Darko, Dr Natalia Villamizar Duarte
- Owning School: Architecture, Planning & Landscape
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 5.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
To equip students with an understanding of the pivotal role cities play in addressing some of today's most pressing global issues and more detailed and critical knowledge of specialised issues in urban development. The module delves into the multifaceted challenges and opportunities that urban areas face, focusing on diverse themes that can include sustainable development, mobility, energy, rapid urbanisation, and water management.
Students will explore how cities can drive sustainable development by balancing economic growth, environmental stewardship, and social equity. The course will examine innovative urban mobility solutions that enhance accessibility and reduce environmental impact. Energy discussions will centre on the transition to renewable sources and the implementation of energy-efficient technologies in urban settings.
Housing topics will address the complexities of providing affordable, adequate, and inclusive housing for diverse urban populations. Water management will cover strategies for ensuring clean, reliable water supplies and effective wastewater treatment in the face of growing urbanization and climate change.
Through a combination of theoretical frameworks, case studies, and practical applications, students will gain the skills and knowledge needed to understand how to develop resilient, sustainable, and liveable cities.
Outline Of Syllabus
The world is on track of becoming increasingly an urban, globalised society but it is faced with significant challenges. This module examines the theories and practices shaping global development generally and key urban challenges such as:*.
• Global urban challenges and the SDGs
• The shape of our cities: colonialism and the modernist city
• The shape of our cities: globalisation and smart cities
• A place in the city: the access to housing and livelihoods
• Energy and climate justice
• Cases of energy challenges
• Transport Mobility and Accessibility
• Cases of mobility challenges
• Urban sustainable development
• Cases of urban sustainable challenges
• Review and assignment surgery
(*) Topics and cases will be reviewed and updated annually to ensure they remain current and relevant.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | Present in person. Standard lecture material delivered in the classroom. |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 56:00 | 56:00 | Reading and research specifically focussed on assessment preparation and completion |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 11 | 2:00 | 22:00 | students undertake reading before class for better understanding the lecture material |
| Total | 100:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities provide a detailed explanation of the key issues and an examination of important literature in relation to global urban development as well as discussions about the application of the theoretical concepts presented in the lecture material to current urban and global issues. The Guided Independent Study will enable students to both achieve the intended knowledge and skills outcomes identified for the module, as well as enabling to help them prepare for the creation of their assessment submission. In case of lockdowns, the lectures and the workshop will move to online Zoom face2face sessions.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1 | M | 90 | Write a critical essay of no more than 2500 words (excluding bibliography, tables and illustrations). |
| Written exercise | 1 | M | 10 | 4x short summary notes (250 words) of key readings in advance to sessions and participation in class discussion |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Students will cover material related to different topics every week and submit short summary notes in advance to sessions to facilitate group discussion. This will assist in the development of their written and communication skills on specialist knowledge.
In the final essay, students are encouraged to explore an issue of global urban challenge that interests them and they want to know more about and think critically on how it relates to dimensions of social justice. Students are asked to use the critical skills and the knowledge they gathered during the Module referring to different current phenomena related to globalisation and write a high quality, critical essay/research paper. This then helps meet the Learning outcomes set for this Module. Student will need to demonstrate how they relate different elements of the course to a selected case study of their choice and apply a theoretical framework to support the analysis as well as academic references.
Criteria
The essay will be assessed as follows:
45% of the marks for critical analysis
45% of the marks for engagement with literature
10% of the marks for presentation, including grammar, spelling and punctuation
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- TCP8921's Timetable