Face-to-face , first term, 30 hours of theory.

First term
Monday from 17:00 to 19:00 at 43 Botanique 4

French

Starting from the idea that we could not imagine society without imaging space, and conversely, this course aims to:

1. understand what justifies the urbanization process through the world, the diversity of its forms and the new structures to which it gives rise to;
2. comprehend urban lifestyles and their interactions with space;
3. identify some stakes of contemporary urbanization and the public policies which are lead to meet them.

For the Bachelor in Information and Communication :

For the Bachelor in Philosophy :

For the Bachelor in Economics and Management :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General :

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General (Evening Programme) :

For the Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology :

None

To identify the form taken by the settlement spaces caused by metropolization, some speak of multi-centred or polycentric metropolitan areas, others speak of metapolis, and other searchers speak of areola network or town grid. All insist on the fact that in these new sets, the (ancient) central town does not necessarily occupies a selected place alone, in terms of living and economic activities: nowadays, centralities reconstruct and have the tendency to multiply. 

The course includes two main parts: 

- The first part will attempt to periodise and characterize the major urban transformations that our societies have experienced, by emphasizing on the recent changes that put space in the centre of the functioning of contemporary societies; 

- The second part will focus on  the ways to govern cities nowadays starting from concrete examples that underline some current issues of the urban public action.

The research field to which is referred in this course is that of «urban studies» in which several disciplines have a specific link (urban sociology, political science, urban economy, geography, demography...).

A specific attention will be paid to:
- the geo-historical dimension ;
- the field studies (including in Brussels) to develop an appropriate light on concrete phenomena ;
- the supply of theoretical tools enabling to analyze urban phenomena.

As this course is designed for different audiences (political scientists, sociologists, students in information and communication...), it studies first the urban phenomenon not only from the point of view of social sciences but also through the light of different disciplines (cinema, photography, plastic arts, literature...) and aims to initiate thus to a really multi- or interdisciplinary approach.

Written exam

Provided in class as the course proceeds.

Syllabus, readings and slides will be provided.