Inside the City of Diversity

This subject is not offered in 2014.

170 hours

Completion of 100 points of first and/or second year subjects from the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Environments degree programs, with a social science emphasis or permission of instructor.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005) and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject examines how the spaces inside cities, the qualities and resources of their built environments, and the features of their neighbourhoods and communities, enhance or limit the opportunities of different groups of city dwellers. Starting from conceptual positions that foreground inequality, difference and encounter, we ask who benefits and who loses from particular socio-spatial arrangements. Issues investigated will include: the growth of gated communities for the wealthy; homelessness; the privatisation of urban public services; cities as the spaces of identified social groups (women, youth, those of particular ethnicities) and the urban activisms associated with such 'differences'; interactions in public space and in the micro-public places of the multicultural city. Cases and examples will be drawn from cities around the world, primarily from developed countries. Students will explore the socio-spaces of Melbourne in research for their major essay.

N/A

• Tutorial paper totalling 750 words 15% (due by mid-semester).
• Research essay of 2000 words 50% (due in two parts).
• One tutorial presentation (10%) 500 words.
• Take-home examination 25% (to be held in final examination period) for which the questions will be distributed in the last lecture.

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

• Bachelor of Biomedicine
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Music
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Engineering

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Upon successful completion of this subject, students will have:

• developed their ability to evaluate critically different theories and analytical approaches;
• improved their capacity to translate this knowledge into applied analysis;
• gathered and created new information about urban conditions; and
• improved their communication skills in public presentation about their own research project and findings.

Students who have successfully completed the subject 705-289/121-019 Urbanisation and Urban Development are ineligible to enrol in this subject.