Name: Cities are back in town : urban sociology for a globalizing urban world
Brand: Sciences Po
Availability: OnlineOnly
Rating: 4.4 (45 reviews)

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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Cities are back in town : urban sociology for a globalizing urban world by Sciences Po

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186 ratings

About the Course

Urbanization is reaching a new peak in the contemporary world with the rise of mega cities. Researchers try to make sense of these large urban areas using a variety of concepts. The class will review debates and present social science models of cities to analyse and compare contemporary developments. General Overview Help Center Urbanization is reaching a new peak in the contemporary world with the rise of mega cities. Researchers try to make sense of these large urban areas using a variety of concepts. The class will review debates and present social science models of cities to analyse and compare contemporary developments. Globalization, Europeanization processes support the rapid developments of cities in different part of the world. Urbanization is reaching a new high in the contemporary world with the rise of mega cities (beyond 15 million inhabitants) such as Calcutta, Los Angeles, Dhaka, Cairo, Tokyo, New York, Shanghai, Mexico or Seoul. Beyond the modern metropolis, researchers try to make sense of these large urban areas using a variety of concepts such as the ‘postmetropolis’, ‘global cities’, and ‘global city-regions’. The class will review debates and present social science models of cities and metropolis to analyse and compare contemporary developments. How can do we study those cities when they become mega urban regions, does size matter and for what? Do we see the making of a vast urban world or by contrast beyond the apparent convergence of complex globalisation processes understood in relation to globalised capitalism, is it possible to identify masked differentiations and the strengthening of different urban worlds? How do we make sense of this urban world when cities are not independent units but have to be understood both in terms of territories, rootedness, and at the same time in terms of relations to take into account flux, mobility, circulations ? What is the relevance of social science concepts developed in the Western world to analyse the transformation of Lagos? To what extent may the systematic development of new forms of comparison between northern cities and cities from the South change social sciences and contribute to overcome the bias towards national comparison? For the time being, given current conditions of capitalism, political, economic, cultural and social questions are increasingly becoming urban questions. In the modern conception of the world/globalcity, characterised by size, the aggregation of housing, differentiated divisions of labour, and the density of interaction, several conceptions of cities exist which have become entangled and sometimes opposed to each other. These different conceptions underline different processes of integration: the material city of walls, squares, houses, roads, light, utilities, buildings, waste, and physical infrastructure; the cultural city in terms of imaginations, differences, representations, ideas, symbols, arts, texts, senses, religion, and aesthetics; the politics and policies of the city in terms of domination, power, government, mobilisation, public policies, welfare, education; the social city of riots, ethnic, economic and gender inequalities, everyday life and social movements; and the economy of the city : the division of labour, scale, production, consumption, trade..... Classic urban questions about inequalities, housing, government, integration, are combined with issues about the urban fabric, questions of mobility and rootedness, sustainable development and risks, the making of the cyborg cities, questions of social control and riots, urban culture, innovation and urban economic development. All video produced by Sciences Po for this Mooc are under Creative Commons (BY / NC / SA) Recommended Background The course is designed for undergraduates but it also will interest graduates and professionals concerned in urban issues. The course is organized in 8 sequences and displays multimedia contents (images, video, original documents). There will be also assignments that consist in participating to discussions related to theoretical models presented in the course based on case studies of your choice, and peer assessments on your contributions. Syllabus : Week #1 : Introduction, definition, urban questions and the use of models Week #2 : European cities and the weberian model of integration Week #3 : Colonial and post colonial cities Week #4 : Industrial cities (and Socialist cities) and Marxist models Week #5 : The American metropolis and the Chicago School, Week #6 : Post metropolis, fragments and differences Week #7 : Global cities and mega cities Week #8 : Smart cities and the sociology of science and technology...

Top reviews

Oct 19, 2017

So far the best course at coursera. The resource persons are superb. no words for the superb designing of the course.

Sep 11, 2022

Very very very informative!! Loved it!! Useful to anyone and not just Urban Engineers including me ❤️

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26 - 46 of 46 Reviews for Cities are back in town : urban sociology for a globalizing urban world

By Hazel T

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May 29, 2022

thank you for this very infornative course.. :)

By Jose G

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Nov 6, 2017

Uno de los mejores cursos sobre el tema! unico!

By Edward K

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Sep 7, 2019

Informative and interesting. Nicely done!

By Fouad M

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Jun 7, 2019

Very informative and useful information.

By Emil

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Sep 11, 2018

Very nice and informative course.

By Тастемир Н

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Sep 16, 2025

why is there no certificate

By Herbaut J P M

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Jul 6, 2019

Thanks You.

Herbaut Julien

By Rasheed L

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May 14, 2017

Very Informative!

By Ahmed A K

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Jun 14, 2023

many thanks

By BINITA P

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Sep 7, 2021

Completed

By EduaGdo H C

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Jun 22, 2017

thank u

By Lucas B

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Aug 20, 2019

Good introduction, I found the exemple of Istanbul particularly interesting. However, I think the explanations about models and how the MOOC is going to be conducted could be a little faster

By Orlando S

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Jul 19, 2021

Basic enough for upcoming learners of the urban phenomena as also thorough and semantically rich for the ones who want to review and expand on this topic.

By Grace L

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Jul 20, 2022

I cannot complete the course although I have went through all the readings and course videos. There must be some technical issues with the course setup.