TCP1027 : Shaping Towns and Cities
- Offered for Year: 2021/22
- Module Leader(s): Professor Tim Townshend
- Lecturer: Dr Diego Garcia Mejuto
- Owning School: Architecture, Planning & Landscape
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
Aims
This module seeks to:
• introduce students to the context and development of ideas about cities and urban spaces, paying particular attention to the historical emergence and development of planning ideas, their advocates, their outcomes and their influence today;
• provide an overview of planning history to help students understand the development of British towns and cities, within the context of the development of the British planning system;
• help students to appreciate the importance of social economic, political and technological factors in shaping urban space.
The content outlined above will - in parallel - provide practice material to teach students a range of academic study skills required for them to complete their degree in Town Planning successfully.
Outline Of Syllabus
The course will be delivered as blended learning with synchronous and non-synchronous sessions – all synchronous sessions will be PiP – unless they need to be moved on-line.
Session 1 - Course Introduction Lecture + Q&A session (synchronous) - Urban Problems Lecture (3 x 20min mini lectures + assoc. activities - non-synchronous)
Session 2 - Critical reading Lecture (Pcap, 2x20min - synchronous) Reading groups (2x1h). Early solutions (3x20 min mini lectures + assoc. activities)
Session 3 - Putting it together (lecture / 20min non sync) + synchronous lecture (Pcap, 2x20min) Discussion groups around the three texts and the first assignment exercise (2x1h) Metroland- Urban Sprawl (3x20min mini lectures + assoc activities - non-synchronous)
Session 4 - Assessing students’ work: is it lucid, is it critical, is it deliberative? (workshop)- Discussion group: 3 essays each to mark and bring to session (2x1h synchronous). Modernism (3x 20 min mini lectures + assoc. activities - non-synchronous)
Session 5 - Choosing an Essay Topic Lecture (Pcap, 2x20min). Workshop: supported choice of research topic (2x1h - synchronous)
Session 6 - Bus tours 2x5hrs (synchronous)
Session 7 - New Towns (3x20min mini lectures + reading non-synchronous)
Session 8 - Essay Writing Lecture (Pcap, 2x20min). Workshop (Teams/Zoom, synchronous 2x1h). New Urbanism (3 x 20 min mini lectures + associated activities – non-synchronous).
Session 9 - Referencing and Plagiarism Lecture (Pcap, 2x20min) Workshop (2x1h synchronous) Citizen Power (3x20 min mini lecture + assoc. activities - non synchronous)
Session 10 - Deregulating Planning (3x20 min mini lecture + assoc. activities )
Session 11 - Essay surgery - 2hrs synchronous
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 15 | 2:00 | 30:00 | non-synchronous |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 1 | 2:00 | 2:00 | synchronous |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 50:00 | 50:00 | N/A |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 95:00 | 95:00 | N/A |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 7 | 2:00 | 14:00 | Working synchronous |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Fieldwork | 1 | 5:00 | 5:00 | Synchronous |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 4:00 | 4:00 | Fieldwork |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The lecture/video scaffolded sessions provide students with an opportunity to engage with the knowledge content of the module, and the workshops, walking tour, and various skills related assignments help them to use this material.
The skills tasks are related to the knowledge content to maximise the interaction between the material (ensure relevance in both directions – skill and knowledge elements).
The Bus tour gives the students a chance to see Newcastle, and have the ideas emerging out of the lectures applied to a particular city, and the walking tour enables them to apply these ideas themselves.
The formative assessment elements help students build their confidence and an early indication of how they are adjusting to degree level marking, and early feedback on how they might improve.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 1 | M | 20 | Notes on discussion of reading workshop (linked to workshop) |
| Essay | 1 | M | 80 | 1,500-2,000 written essay |
Formative Assessments
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1 | M | Essay Plan Assignment |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Assignments are linked into the skills students are acquiring through the workshops, and attached to the written essay assignment. The skills related workshops draw on the knowledge content of the module to give students a chance to reflect on the material.
The formative assessment elements help students build their confidence and an early indication of how they are adjusting to degree level marking, and early feedback on how they might improve.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- TCP1027's Timetable