• Describe and interpret different theoretical concepts, approaches and methods regarding contemporary cities, urbanisation and urban policies and to apply them to real-life cases;
• Observe, recognise and theorise different occurences of urban processes in the Netherlands as well as abroad (notably in Berlin);
• Discuss your own position with respect to urban development and reflect on your own scientific research; 
• Communicate in a professional way, both verbally and in writing.
   

Cities are the vibrant and dynamic focal points of our society. These diverse agglomerations of people, companies and organisations are locations for both innovation and conflict. Cities are regarded as creative places for creative people as well as conflictual places for divergent communities. Following the recent cultural turn in urban studies, which focuses on meaning, identity and the politics of difference, this course aims to provide you with a basis for understanding the main contemporary urban issues by looking at diversity in the city. In addition, we will analyse and critically evaluate the development of these aspects of urban life. In doing so we will discuss various ways of conceptualising the city, and by looking at classic and contemporary texts on the city and urban life, you will acquire an overview of key developments in urban theory.
Through engagement with the work of authors such as Simmel, Jacobs, Wirth, Sennett, Benjamin and Davis, the course aims to explore the variety of ways in which different theorists have attempted to interpret the nature of the contemporary city. From these theoretical perspectives, we will also critically reflect on urban policies in the Netherlands and elsewhere.
The primary aim of this course is to develop students' critical understanding of the complex processes of urbanisation. This involves analysing cultural, economic, political and social change in cities. This aim is achieved through theoretical investigation and critique of these processes of urban change. The insights into the complex processes of urbanisation will also provide students with the required understanding of urban development and intervention. A number of guest lecturers from various theoretical and practical fields will introduce the themes of this course.
This course includes (if possible under Covid-19 circumstances) a four-day field trip to Berlin in October, which is a hotspot for studying urban change. Linked to this field trip is an urban fieldwork assignment and the creation of a photographic essay. There are costs attached to this excursion.