LG
5.0Reviewed Sep 18, 2019
Very interesting, and relaxing as there is no assessment!
I completed all the videos and assignments- but never got a certificate or any other grade...
A strange and bizzare experience.
Cities are back in town : urban sociology for a globalizing urban world
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
Status: European History
Status: Sustainable Development
BeginnerCourse12 hours
Featured reviews
SB
5.0Reviewed Oct 18, 2017
So far the best course at coursera. The resource persons are superb. no words for the superb designing of the course.
TS
5.0Reviewed Jun 24, 2017
Teacher who tech about Urban Sociology in this course which me know anymore. Thank!
PP
5.0Reviewed Dec 14, 2018
The course is good but it needs to introduce certificate or any kind of poof
AB
5.0Reviewed Feb 16, 2019
Great course and good introduction to urbanist history and theory
GL
4.0Reviewed Jul 18, 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.
SS
5.0Reviewed Sep 10, 2022
Very very very informative!! Loved it!! Useful to anyone and not just Urban Engineers including me ❤️
PM
4.0Reviewed Jun 11, 2017
This is one of the better MOOCS in Coursera. So relevant to my work and the discussions are thought-provoking. Hoping there is a sequel. All best.
JF
4.0Reviewed Mar 9, 2020
Some difficult/dense concepts to take up, but a very good way to broaden one's view of what constitutes the future of this urban planet
PE
4.0Reviewed Jan 27, 2022
Some very interesting perspectives. Concepts were clearly explained and examples were relevant.
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Rotem Cohen
1.0
Reviewed May 2, 2020PERVIN,Mousumi
5.0
Reviewed Dec 15, 2018The course is good but it needs to introduce certificate or any kind of poof
Rusmat Ahmed
5.0
Reviewed Dec 23, 2018What a phenomenally interesting topic! Prof. Le Galès sweeps through a large field of literature, presenting different approaches and views on cities each week, giving a guided tour of the characteristics of the many fascinating models of urban sociology and urbanisation. For me, a real eye-opener and an inspiration to look further into sociology and urbanisation, the latter clearly being a vital topic for the 21st century.
That you so much for putting this course together! (Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in where the planet is going and why we got to where we are now, even with no background in sociology or geography.)
Luis Martínez
5.0
Reviewed Sep 6, 2018The course was very interesting and begins with the correct historic perspective, going through every stage of the city and ends with contemporary trends. Includes history, facts, numbers and lots of information that can be further interpreted by oneself. Thank you.
Ana Balteanu
5.0
Reviewed Feb 17, 2019Great course and good introduction to urbanist history and theory
Cristina Dreifuss
4.0
Reviewed Jan 15, 2017The material is very, very good!
I am not very confortable with the professor as a lecturer, though. He is very distractig. At the end I opted for just reading the transcripts instead of watching the videos.
It is slightly annoying that the References are not properly quoted sometimes.
Alessandro Rota
3.0
Reviewed May 4, 2020The course has some interesting content, but the way the matter is presented is not really appealing. Good for beginners with no background in social sciences. Sometimes it is impossible to understand what the instructor says (especially personal names) and the English subtitles are very very often wrong (some sentences do not make any sense, some words are misspelled, the punctuation is always wrong, and so on).
Deleted Account
3.0
Reviewed Sep 14, 2016Topic and approach are interesting, however the disturbingly-modulated voice and exaggerated accent of the professor can get a bit unbearable at times and make lectures arduous to follow and enjoy.
Brad Kligerman
3.0
Reviewed Oct 10, 2016this course is a decent introduction and overview from a sociological perspective, of the city. It is well structured, progresses quickly, and begins to contrast the sociological analysis with contemporary theory and critical approaches.
Dhruv Chakraverti
3.0
Reviewed May 14, 2020The course covers some historical theories of Urban Sociology but isn't very effective in establishing a connection with real-world experiences.
David Rendell
5.0
Reviewed May 25, 2017Really enjoyed this course and the way in which it was presented.
Stimulating and thoughtful with lots of ideas that I found relevant to my own experiences in the UK and Hong Kong. As a retired Geography Teacher, with a particular interest in the historical geography of rural settlement, I joined the course out of an almost casual interest in how the geography and sociology of urban settlement has developed over the last decade. I am now 'hooked' on the idea of a 'globalising urban world' and am reading 'on' and around the subject with renewed interest and making plans to visit some of the cities mentioned in the course.
Thank you for opening up this fascinating insight into the world of the 21st century.
Jonathan Gross
5.0
Reviewed Dec 8, 2019This is a great class for a fairly in-depth overview of the field of urban sociology and human geography. I've always been fascinated by the urban studies, and seeing examples of the specific issues cities and metropolises have faced throughout the centuries (millennia) is really interesting. The amount and depth of reading is honestly comparable to many of the Humanities courses I took at university and higher than many other online courses I've taken. Definitely recommended.
DURAC GASTON HORACIO
5.0
Reviewed Nov 12, 2018Me inscribi desde La ciudad De La Plata ARGENTINA
ESTUDIO LAS RELACIONES SOCIALES EN EL ESPACIO PUBLICO Y LAS RELACIONES DE MOVILIDAD
BAJO LOS ENFOQUES DE IGUALDAD EN LAS RELACIONES DE GENERO
ESPACIO PUBLICO DE CALIDAD ,
Y LA COMPLEJIDAD DE LAS RELACIONES SOCIALES DESDE LA SEGURIDAD PUBLICA
ESTE CURSO ME PARECE EXCELENTE POR LA FORMA Y LOS CONOCIMIENTOS BRINDADOS
EXCELENTE , GRACIAS
SALUDOS
Elena Anastasieva
5.0
Reviewed Feb 20, 2019A really interesting and bold introduction course for urban studies.
Easy going, comprehensive, not boring, good references on classics without overloading.
Mes compliment les plus sinceres a Patrick le Galle, la presentation brilliante et tres vif!
Jessica Endonio Martínez
5.0
Reviewed Jan 3, 2019It is a great course to learn more about the cities, the different cultures in the world, how the population and the cities are growing up in the technological and social way. I really enjoy it!
Greetings from México.
Satwant Balse
5.0
Reviewed Oct 19, 2017So far the best course at coursera. The resource persons are superb. no words for the superb designing of the course.
Valeria Peredo
5.0
Reviewed Mar 23, 2020Fue un gran curso, una muy buena introducción al estudio de las ciudades desde las ciencias sociales. Gracias!
Samaneh Shareghifard
5.0
Reviewed Sep 11, 2022Very very very informative!! Loved it!! Useful to anyone and not just Urban Engineers including me ❤️
尹美丽
5.0
Reviewed May 2, 2023The course is excellent at providing a overall view on the global city development and is inspiring.
Constanza Vásquez Guzmán
5.0
Reviewed Sep 24, 2019me encantó, encontré que el curso es super transversal respecto del país en donde lo curses.