Geography and Planning BA

Core modules:

Development, Planning and the State

The module provides an introduction to state intervention into land and property development and to current planning law and practice. Having considered land-use patterns within an unrestrained market economy, the first part of the module covers the development of state machinery in the nineteenth century and the current structure of national, regional and local government. The central part of the module introduces the English planning system as an administrative tool and the final third of the module explores its application to matters of current concern including the accomodation of new housebuilding at the sub-regional scale, and urban conservation.

20 credits

Exploring Human Geographies

The module provides an introduction to human geography including key principles and processes in economic, social and cultural geography. It describes the main elements and issues involved in the global economic system including the process of uneven development and how local economic activities are moulded by global forces. It also provides an introduction to social and cultural geography focusing on a range of concepts, current debates and contemporary issues. Drawing examples from around the world and at a variety of geographical scales, the module highlights the value of a geographical perspective on current economic, social and cultural issues.

20 credits

Information and Communication Skills

The skills needed to be able to find, evaluate, summarise and critically evaluate information are all vital to success in an undergraduate degree programme, and are also key transferable skills. This module will provide training in a wide range of methods for information handling and communication. The teaching is largely in workshops, with students expected to take more responsibility for their own learning as the module progresses. Lectures provide basic tuition in skills, whilst workshops and a range of exercises are used to develop these skills.

10 credits

Professional Skills Development (L1)

* A foundation to articulate the skills-based nature of study in USP. * An opportunity to recognise the importance of, and your responsiblity for, the development of key professional and employability-related skills. * A series of support sessions to help you get the most out of your learning experience and prepare you for professional employment at the end of your studies. This module seeks to deliver a range of professional and employability-related skills over the academic year, tailored to each student cohort, to introduce skills development and to tailor support towards the final stages of study.

The Making of Urban Places

This module will introduce you to cities and urbanisation, from the very first settlements to contemporary metropolises, using examples from across the world. The module focuses on thinking about the role of cities within societies and civilisations throughout history. The first half, on the history of urbanisation and urban settlement, looks at how various forces have shaped cities, and the outcomes of urbanisation for cities and their populations. The second half, on contemporary global urbanisation challenges, examines some of the major global challenges facing cities today. Throughout, we will explore influential ideas which have changed our thinking about cities, and look at how urban governments and planners have sought to respond to the challenges of urbanisation.

20 credits

Optional modules:

Cities

The main aim of Cities is to introduce you to our urban condition in a global context. Within this broad aim we will connect you to a range of key issues in contemporary urban studies and help you to understand more about the roots of urban problems and questions of social inequality and social justice within that context. This a general course that aims to develop an understanding of urban social life, economies, political systems, disorder and a range of other themes in an international context.

10 credits

Economics for Spatial Planning

This module provides an introduction to economic concepts and theories and to the way in which they are applied to the analysis of selected markets and policy challenges. The overall aim of the module is to develop students' understanding of the economic environment within which planners and other urban professions operate and to enhance understanding of economic theory and the economy in general.

10 credits

Environmental Change and Society

This module will introduce students to a wide range of critical environmental issues facing the world today from physical science and social science perspectives. Using a range of environmental problems evident in the Global North and Global South (such as climate change, habitat loss, water resources, land-use change, agriculture), the physical and social processes implicated will be examined. Drawing on a range of examples, students will critically explore the causes, consequences, management and solutions to environmental issues and learn how to question assumptions about environmental processes.

20 credits

Exploring New Horizons in Geography

Geographers actively contribute to intellectual debates across the sciences, social sciences and Humanities addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the modern world, from climate change to food security, informing policy and practice. The module provides a challenging but accessible insight into the origins of the discipline and how these translate into the cutting edge of contemporary geographical research, and how this helps us understand our changing world. Serving as a bridge between the general introductory modules and the more specialist modules taught at levels 2 and 3, this module provides an opportunity for students to engage with topical issues in contemporary human and physical geography led by academics actively engaged in cutting edge research on those subjects.

20 credits

Housing, Home and Neighbourhood

Housing and the homes and neighbourhoods that we live in are in the news every day. Whether this is over concerns about housing shortages, affordability, housing bubbles, `generation rent', social housing, housing evictions, city-centre housing, DIY and `grand designs', or debates about the domestic sphere, `home as a haven', `benefit streets', flooding and shack settlements, housing is often at the centre of social science research. This module aims to introduce students to this broad and diverse subject by drawing on the expertise of staff who research across these multiple themes. The module focuses on contemporary concerns, while maintaining an appreciation of the impact of historical trends (e.g. the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8). The module will make use of cases from the UK and abroad to illustrate trends, arguments and challenges.

10 credits

Planning Project

The aim of this module is to help you develop an understanding of what a planning problem looks like, and how to understand planning dilemmas in a real-life project context. The module will develop your skills of analysis for urban places and you will gain a basic knowledge of planning tools to address urban issues. You will also develop basic design and drawing skills.

20 credits

The Environmental Challenge

Environmental and ecological challenges are becoming increasingly important in socio-spatial regulation. This module introduces students to the main concepts and theories that underpin environmental policy-making with particular reference to the issues and examples at local, national and global scales. This module has four main aims: (1) to examine the key environmental challenges facing human societies; (2) to explore past, present and possible future responses to those challenges; (3) to provide students with a range of conceptual and analytical tools for analysing political and regulatory responses to environmental conflict and (4) to provide students with knowledge and understanding to assist in confronting environmental challenges.

10 credits

Urban Analytics

This module will serve as an introduction to quantitative research methods, with a specific focus on data sources, analysis methods and presentation techniques for policy analysis in social science. It will expose students to a wide variety of substantive issues surrounding the use of data in practice and enhance their understanding of methods used in the real world policy settings. Students will access and use a range of different datasets, covering demographics, property, and land use. They will be required to demonstrate competence in accessing, analysing and presenting such data in order to gain a deeper understanding of key issues.

10 credits

Core modules:

Professional Skills Development (L2)

A foundation to articulate the skills- based nature of study in USP; An opportunity to recognise the importance of, and your responsibility for, the development of key professional and employability-related skills; A series of support sessions to help you get the most out of your learning experience and prepare you for professional employment at the end of your studies. This module seeks to deliver a range of professional and employability-related skills over the academic year, tailored to each student cohort, to introduce skills development and to tailor support towards the final stages of study.

Optional modules:

Design and Development Project

This module explores the interrelationship between planning, design and development profitability. It examines the structure of real estate markets, the roles and objectives of the various stakeholders involved in the development process and the main aspects of development appraisal. At the same time, the module introduces the physical dimensions of urban planning and considers the urban design process and proposals for improving urban space. Students will work towards producing a development proposal that balances profitability with good design and in doing so, will learn to balance the competing demands of planning, design and real estate markets.

20 credits

Environment, Society and Politics

Environmental issues continue to be a key area of contemporary public concern and current political debate. They raise fundamental questions about the relationship between society and environment, and the politics of that relationship. This module provides a geographical introduction to these issues and debates with examples from a range of scales from the global to the local. After a review of key concepts, the module is developed through inter-related sections covering debates through different empirical themes.

20 credits

Researching the city: applied skills for practice

Level Two study of urban design, urban management, social research methods and the distinctiveness of place is enhanced by the experience of field research in a European city. Students taking this module will consider various topics, such as the impact of planning policy, flood resilience, urban ethnicity and social segregation, housing developments, or issues in the use of public space, through field investigation. These projects will involve the use of a range of qualitative and quantitative research skills and techniques, as well as interpretative methods. The course will require students to undertake designated field excursions to contrasting districts, landmark sites, museums, galleries and key archives.

20 credits

Geographies of Development

Development in the Global South is a major issue of international concern in the 21st century. This module explores contemporary development issues and examines the contribution that geographers, and geographical thought, can make towards understanding inequality, poverty and socio-economic change. Definitions of `development', `poverty' and `the poor' shift and are invested with political meaning which reflect specific geographies and ways of seeing the world: students develop critical understandings of such terminology and the power dynamics implicit within them. This module addresses diverse theories, paradigms and contemporary critiques of development, and explores some of the central issues affecting processes of development. Case examples are drawn from Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia.

20 credits

Political Geographies

The module introduces students to contemporary debates within political geography, addressing political processes at a variety of spatial scales, from international, national, local and community politics through to individual political behaviour. Questions of power, efficacy and conflict are examined at all these scales with particular emphasis on the spatial and place-specific aspects of politics in relation to issues including: geopolitics and international relations; the state and territoriality; the politics of nationalism and citizenship; civic activism; and individual political participation.

20 credits

Profit, Planning and Context

The module explores the relationship between the activities of profit-seeking business, the use and development of land and the planning activity. It provides an elementary introduction to the economics of land and property development and explores how these pressures interact with lifestyle choices to shape the use of land and property and the implication for public planning. The first part provides a brief introduction to measuring the performance of businesses and investments. The remainder of the module looks at the use of land and property for housing, retail, leisure, employment and transport uses in `urban' contexts

20 credits

Social and Cultural Geographies

This module builds on the Level 1 module Introduction to Human Geography. It illustrates the diversity and vitality of contemporary social and cultural geography including some of the philosophical concepts and theoretical debates that have shaped the subject. As well as demonstrating the value of a geographical perspective on a range of social and cultural issues, the module will enhance the understanding, critical awareness and interdisciplinary capacities of students. The module aims to deepen and enrich the ways in which students are able to think about geographical issues, through a critical understanding of concepts and approaches that underpin the substance and methods of contemporary human geography. The module is delivered through lectures and engagement with a variety of media. It will be assessed via an essay and an unseen exam.

20 credits

Spatial Analysis

The aims of the module are to provide students with a broad introduction to the basic concepts of GIS and how they can be used for the spatial analysis of a wide range of data for planning purposes. The assessments will (a) test students' individual understanding of key concepts and their ability to think about the potentials and limitations of using spatial analysis to solve planning related problems; and (b) assess students' skills in the practical application of GIS and spatial analysis to a contemporary planning-related problem.

20 credits

Urban Design and Place-Making

The overall aim of the module is to improve students’ understanding and critical appreciation of the ideas, practices and teachniques of urban design, focusing particularly on the contemporary context for place-making.

20 credits

Urban Theory

This module aims to develop student’s imaginative engagement with the nature of urban life and human settlement. Urban theory is about how we think about and ‘see’ cities around us – ideas are critical to how we engage with the key problems of the urban world, they are also important to our understanding of how cities work in practice. Urban Theory introduces a range of ideas and key concepts in urban studies with a view to understanding how cities have developed and how they ‘work’ in broad terms. The module considers a range of thinkers, ideas and problems.

20 credits

Core modules:

Dissertation

This module allows students to develop and manage an individual research project. Students will choose a topic of their interest, develop an appropriate research design to address this, and conduct primary or secondary research to provide critical insight and analysis of the research issue. The module aims to develop knowledge of research methods, skills in identifying and scoping an appropriate research topic, and ability to design and undertake an appropriate and feasible programme of research. The module will contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of research in relation to theoretical and practical dimensions of urban studies and planning, and will allow students to deepen their own knowledge in a chosen field of specialist planning concern. The module will be of interest and practical use to students in carrying out dissertations, and in introducing a range of research and analytical skills that will be useful in future careers.

40 credits

Professional Skills Development (L3)

A foundation to articulate the skills- based nature of study in USP; An opportunity to recognise the importance of, and your responsibility for, the development of key professional and employability-related skills; A series of support sessions to help you get the most out of your learning experience and prepare you for professional employment at the end of your studies. This module seeks to deliver a range of professional and employability-related skills over the academic year, tailored to each student cohort, to introduce skills development and to tailor support towards the final stages of study.

Optional modules:

Philosophy, Aesthetics and Place

Place, in all its forms, has long inspired radically new thought and perception. This module will explore the work of several historical and contemporary philosophers and artists in situ -why did their work arise where it did? What difference does that place (or places) make to their thought and expression? This module will guide students through the intricate relationship between philosophy, art (across various media) and geography with emphasis on specific types of place as sites of intellectual thought and creative practice. These may range from the large scale such as nation and heimat, to the urban scale, to the intimate such as the village and even the body. Core themes will include identity, place and displacement, historical imaginary and the built environment, and creativity and social/spatial transformation.

20 credits

Decolonising Geographies

This module examines Indigenous geographies through Indigenous storytelling and film as a way to understand the need to decolonise geography. It examines how race, racism, Indigenous rights, settler colonialism, settler responsibility, white supremacy, land rights, dispossession and genocide shape geographies of place, space and landscape. Topics covered include geographies of identity, emotions, memory, racism, colonialism, gender, landscape, and visual representation. The aim of this module is to centre Indigenous narratives, voices and knowledge to understand geography differently while simultaneously critiquing the current whiteness of academic geographical discourse. Trigger warning – this module engages with potentially distressing and challenging themes of rape, murder, abuse, loss and violence.

20 credits

Development and Global Change

The aim of this module is to critically examine the development process within a global context, drawing on examples from developed and developing nations. Attention is given to the different ways in which we in the West understand 'development', and how we can reflect more critically on our position, and the power relations within this process. Drawing on debates within development geography, and other disciplines, the course is structured around three themes: the development industry, the poverty agenda and the local-global nexus. Topics covered may include: neoliberalism and state governance, humanitarian intervention, gender and empowerment, protests and social movements, corporate social responsibility, participation and empowerment, local forms of resistance, environmental action and change.

20 credits

Geographies of Democracy and Citizenship

This module explores the grounding of political geography in our everyday lives, through actions such as the outcomes of social policy interventions, experiences of inequality and injustice, and claims-making through activism and for various forms of citizenship. The module explores key debates and theories to draw out the links between geography, policy and society, and the ways in which these are manifested geographically as well as responses to these by citizens, communities, civil society and political parties. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which these interactions are played out across multiple scales and in and through particular spaces and places.

20 credits

Urban Transformations

From the industrial-era modern cities of the Global North such as Manchester and Chicago to the fragmented, sprawling mega-cities of the contemporary Global South such as Lagos and Delhi, urban theorists have sought to understand the interplay of power, everyday practice, and social, political, economic, and cultural processes that both transform and are transformed by urban space. This module draws from interdisciplinary theory and research to engage with urban transformations in both the Global North and the Global South. The module may address themes such as urbanization, infrastructure, inequality and social stratification, value, difference, and embodiment.

20 credits

Geographies of Consumption

The ways in which we buy and use stuff and services are inextricable from the shaping of both our everyday lives and of contemporary societies. From constructions of identity and models of human well-being to issues of social equality and environmental sustainability, debates around consumption illuminate critical perspectives on contemporary societies and cultures. This module explores key contemporary geographical perspectives on consumption, linking critical insights and theoretical perspectives to our own practices and experiences.

20 credits

Values, Theory and Ethics in Spatial Planning

Drawing on insights from theoretical debates in planning and policy studies the module explores the assumptions underlying spatial planning practice and the challenges confronting practitioners. Firstly, it explores the values underpinning planning to understand why we plan, the nature of the challenges planning seeks to address and the dilemmas and conflicts these generate for planning practice. Secondly, it presents diverse theoretical approaches that planning has taken to address these dilemmas and conflicts. Thirdly, it examines the implications different planning theories have for the values of planning and the ethical frameworks available to planners in deciding how to act. Lectures will employ real-world cases and dilemmas faced by individual practitioners in their day-to-day work. Seminars will involve discussion based on films and other relevant material. Workshops will support students in the application of the approaches and theories discussed to specific cases, in preparation for the assignment.

20 credits

Transport and Infrastructure Planning

This module will provide students with an introduction to planning and policymaking in relation to the provision of transport and other types of infrastructure. The module develops students' ability to think critically about the framing of transport and infrastructure policy using an appreciation of historic developments, current practices and debates, transport and infrastructure planning examples from the UK and abroad. It will focus on how planners working at a range of spatial scales can give shape to effective transport and infrastructure strategies, which balance a range of environmental, social and economic objectives.

20 credits

Housing Policy and Governance

The aims of this Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) accredited module are to build on substantive knowledge, theory and skills about housing. Emphasis is placed on policy, practice, strategy analysis and understanding the links between housing, planning, social policies and outcomes at national, regional and local levels. The module further aims to: increase understanding of contemporary issues and debates in housing and housing policy and strategies; understand the causes and manifestations of problems, dilemmas and conflicts in housing systems and policy processes; and to develop abilities to synthesise and apply knowledge by understanding and critically assessing potential policy approaches to addressing housing problems.

20 credits

Environmental Policy and Governance

This unit aims to help students analyse environmental policy. It provides an overview of principal elements of contemporary environmental governance, and an introduction to the process of systematic policy evaluation in relation to a policy element of their choice. The module focuses on the contested and complex nature of the policy environment, and the role of the public and specific interests. Through individual investigation of a specific element of policy, students will explore the multi-level nature of environmental policy, contested and competing policy goals, and theories about how policy brings about change. Teaching involves a combination of lectures and interactive seminars.

20 credits