GGR124 Winter 2021 PDF

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Syllabus: GGR124H1: Cities and Urban Life Online Asynchronous

I nstructor Dr. Nick Lombardo – [email protected] Office Hours: Thursdays, 9-10AM, 3-4PM

Teaching Assistants Shannon Black – [email protected]

VV Nincic. Toronto Skyline c.2007

Course Description This course offers an introduction to North American cities and urbanization in a global context. It explores social, cultural, political and economic forces, processes, and events that shape contemporary urbanism. The course adopts the lens of 'fixity' and 'flow' to examine how the movement of people, ideas, goods, and capital, as well as their containment in the infrastructure and space of the city, give rise to particular urban forms.

Learning Outcomes By the end of this course, students will be able to: 1.

Identify and understand the organization and structure of North American cities

2.

Describe the patterns of urban development and change along social, economic, and

3.

Interpret urban forms and activities in relation to larger geographic theories

4.

Analyze their everyday urban experiences in connection to public policy and larger

political lines

political economic systems

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Skill Objectives By the end of this course, students will improve their ability to: 1.

Critically read and analyze scholarly material

2.

Analyze material phenomena and primary sources

3.

Perform scholarly research using library databases

Course Organization Access t o Course Materials & Readings Course materials and readings will be made available via Quercus.

Submissions Assignments are to be submitted via Quercus, uploaded as .doc, .docx, or .pdf files.

Tutorials Tutorials will be held 4 times over term. These will be asynchronous tutorials organized around skill-building and will coincide with assignments.

Assignments and Evaluation Assignment s and Key Dates Dat es 1.

Critical Secondary and Primary Source Analysis

15%

13 February, 2021

2.

Midterm Exam

15%

27 February, 2021

3.

Critical Urban Analysis

25%

20 March, 2021

5%

2 April, 2021

40%

TBA

4.

Reflection Essay

5.

Final Exam

Assignment Details Assignment 1 – Critical Secondary and Primary Source Analysis Due 1 March, 2021 - 15% This assignment asks you to carry out an analysis of a scholarly, secondary source that deals with urban life in North America. You will be responsible for assessing the source, and analyzing it in relation to a primary source in 1,200 words.

Assignment 2 – Critical Urban Analysis Due 29 March, 2021 - 25% This assignment gives you a chance to carry out research on your own. You will choose an urban site in Toronto or your own city. You will then be responsible for carrying out secondary research using the U of T library website, and using Google Maps (or a similar service) to find primary sources. You must analyze your site using these sources in 1,500 words.

Assignment 3 – Reflection Essay Due 5 April, 2021 This is an opportunity for you to reflect on the course content and your own relationship to the urban geographies of North America. In this short, 500 word essay, you will explain how this course has changed the way you understand your own position in the urban world we live in.

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Late Penalties A Late Penalty of 5% of the assignment grade will apply for each day the assignment is late. This includes weekends, weekdays, and holidays. Assignments will not be accepted later than one week after the due date unless there are extenuating circumstances. Extensions without penalty will be granted for reasons of accommodation, illness or emergencies when appropriate documentation is submitted to the instructor. Reweighting of assignments/grades is not permitted.

Required Text There is no required text for this course. Instead, we will be using a variety of book chapters, journal articles, encyclopaedia entries and other scholarly material. This material will all be available via Quercus.

Course Schedule This course is centred around a weekly lecture, lasting approximately 90 minutes, recorded and available via Quercus. As well, each week will have a short ‘Recap and Live Chat Session’ where I will be available for live questions and answers. As well, I will have office hours for one on one consultation.

Week 1 ( 11 January) : I ntroduction to the Course In this week’s lecture, we explore what the course content will be, how the course is structured, and provide and introduction to course topics.

Readings No Readings

Week 2 ( 1 8 January) : Place, Cities, and Regions This week, we examine the theoretical framework for this course. Students are introduced to the theory of place, explore how we understand and define cities, and what cities mean in relation to other types of geographies out there.

Readings Massey, Doreen. (1991). “A Global Sense of Place.” Marxism Today. Rogers, Alisdair et. Al. (2013). “Urban Geography.” A Dictionary of Human Geography Rogers, Alisdair et. Al. (2013). “City.” A Dictionary of Human Geography

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Week 3 ( 2 5 January) : Set t ler Colonialism and the history of North American cities This week focuses on the historical urban geographies of North America. In particular, students explore the settler colonial basis of our cities and what this has meant, and continues to mean, for our everyday urban lives.

Tutorial Tutorial 1: Critical Reading, Secondary and Primary Sources - Assignment 1

Readings Barman, Jean. (2010). “Race, Greed and Something More: the Erasure of Urban Indigenous Space in Early Twentieth-Century British Columbia.” In Tracey Banivanua Mar & Penelope Edmonds (eds). Making Settler Colonial Space: Perspective on Race, Place and

Identity. London: Palgrave MacMillan. Pp.155-177. DaCosta, Jamaias. (2014). “Toronto AKA Tkaronto Passes New City Council Protocol.” Muskrat

Magazine.

Week 4 ( 1 February) : Product ion, Service, and Economic Organizat ion in Cities Week 4 introduces students to some of the basic foundational concepts of urban economic geography. We explore changes to urban economic organization, and work over the past 100 years and what this looks like today. We pay particular attention to links between urban work and life to larger-scale economic change.

Readings Ash, Amin. (2003). “The Economic Base of Contemporary Cities.” In Gary Bridge & Sophie Watson (eds.). A Companion to the City. London: Blackwell. Pp. 115-129. Mojtehedzadeh, Sara & Monsebraaten, Laurie. (2015). “Precarious Work is Now the New Norm, United Way Says.” Toronto Star.

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Week 5 ( 8 February) : Housing and Social Geographies of the Cit y The issues of housing and the housing market are at the centre of this week’s lecture. We examine the historical legacy of housing segregation in North America and the continued effects of this on the housing market.

Tutorial Tutorial 2: How to Study - Midterm Exam

Readings Wyly, Elvin et. al. (2012). “New Racial Meanings of Housing in America.” American Quarterly

64(3): pp.571-604. Greene, Sula. (2020). “’There’s So Much Fear’: Toronto Renters Worried About Eviction During Covid-19.” TVO.org

Week 6 ( 2 2 February ) : Midt erm Exam Week 6 is taken up by the Midterm Exam

Readings No readings this week.

Week 7 ( 1 March) : Urban I nequalit y, Segregation, and Exclusion In this week we examine the changing patterns of urban inequality in North American cities, paying close attention to the relationship to post-Fordist economic organization and continuing and new forms of inequality, segregation, and exclusion. We examine attempts to ameliorate these conditions and the success and failures of such.

Tutorial Tutorial 3: How to Do Research - Assignment 2

Readings Hulchanski, David. (2010). “The Three Cities Within Toronto: Income Polarization Among Toronto’s Neighbourhoods, 1970-2005.” Cities Centre. Barber S. et. al. (2020). “Covid-19 in Context: Racism, Segregation and Racial Inequities in Philadelphia. Drexel University Urban Health Collaborative.

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Week 8 ( 8 March) : Governing and Planning Cit ies In this week, we focus on the governance of cities. Students are introduced to some of the central concepts in urban governance, with a particular focus on the urban planning process and its relationship to private property.

Readings Molotch, Harvey (1976). “The City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place.”

American Journal of Sociology 82(2): pp. 309-332. Gray, Jeff. (2020). “A Toronto hotel for Homeless People Fuels a Covid-19 Culture War in Affluent Yonge and Eglinton Neighbourhood.” The Globe and Mail.

Week 9 ( 1 5 March) : I nfrastructure, Expansion, and Suburbanizat ion Week 9 introduces students to the role of infrastructure in changing the form of our urban regions. In particular, we explore the role of suburbanization and urban expansion in relation to infrastructure. Special attention is paid to the politics of such growth and change.

Readings Cidell, Julie (2013). “When Runways Move but People Don’t: The O’Hare Modernization Program and the Relative Immobilities of Air Travel.” Mobilities, 8(4): pp. 528-541. Zafar, Nida. (2020). “Care For Our Essential Workers Is Less Than Adequate as Peel’s Covid Numbers skyrocket.” The Pointer.

Week 1 0 ( 22 March) : Gentrification, Development, and Redevelopment In this week, students are introduced to some of the primary drivers of urban change in the areas of housing, work, and built form. We explore the relationship between international finance, housing, and social geographies to understand how urban areas change and people are excluded.

Readings Wachsmuth, David & Weisler, Alexander. (2018). “AirBnB and the Rent Gap: Gentrification Through the Sharing Economy.” Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space

50(6): pp.1147-1170. O’Connor, Naoibh. (2019). “Close to Half of Vancouver Condos Aren’t Occupied By Owners.”

Vancouver is Awesome.

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Week 11 ( 29 March) : Nature, Climat e Change, and Urban Sustainabilit y This week explores the role of nature in the city, and how cities are impacted by and deal with climate change. We focus on how cities and nature have related to one another, and what climate change means in light of the wider themes we have examined in this course.

Readings Cronon, William. (1991). “Prologue: Cloud over Chicago.” In Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and

the Great West.” New York: W.W. Norton and Company. Pp.1-19. Erickson, Jim. (2019). “Five Years Later: Flint Water Crisis Most Egregious Example of Environmental Injustice, U-M Researcher Says.” Michigan News.

Week 1 2 ( 5 April) : What ’s Next For Our Cit ies and Course Review In this week, we have a brief discussion of what is next for our cities, particularly as we look toward a post-pandemic world. We also review course content in order to prepare for the exam.

Tutorial Tutorial 4 - Studying and Review

Readings Siemiatycki, Matti. (2020). How will Covid-19 Change Toronto? U of T News. McBride, Jason. (2020). “The Post-Pandemic Future: How Covid Got City Builders Thinking.”

Course Policies & Expectations Communication Communication between students, the instructor, and TAs is to be kept polite, professional, and concise. Any questions that cannot be answered in 1 or 2 sentences should be dealt with during office hours, via Zoom. E-mails will be responded to within 1 business day. Generally, this means you cannot expect replies after 5PM, on weekends, or holidays. Specific course, assignment, and extension related inquiries are to be directed to the TA, Shannon Black. All emails must contain GGR124, your name, and your student number in the subject line.

Classroom Environment This course is conducted entirely over Zoom recordings, and via Quercus. As such, you are expected to conduct yourself online just as you would in person. This means that there is a zero tolerance policy for any harassment and abusive or hateful language.

Accessibilit y Services While I aim to be proactive about accessibility issues, students should contact me, or their accessibility advisor, if they need any additional accommodations.

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Ext ension Request s Extension requests should be communicated to the TA as soon as possible before an assignment is due.

Reread requests Reassessments will only be considered within 2 weeks after an assignment has been handed back. In order to have an assignment reassessed, you must provide a 1-paragraph rationale to the head TA.

Recording/ electronics usage All lectures will be recorded and posted to Quercus. You may not record office hour discussions unless permission has been granted by the Instructor or TA.

Academic I ntegrit y Committing plagiarism is an academic offence, therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure that you are submitting work that is original, has not been submitted for credit before, and is well cited. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are following these rules: http://life.utoronto.ca/getsmarter/academic-honesty/academic-honesty/Academic Integrity.

Names and Gender I dent it ies If you would like to use a name or a pronoun that differs from your official university records, I am happy to accommodate that. Please communicate this to me via e-mail.

Mental Health Statement Supporting Mental Health in t he U of T Community As a student at U of T, you may experience circumstances and challenges that can affect your academic performance and/or reduce your ability to participate fully in daily activities. An important part of the University experience is learning how and when to ask for help. There is no wrong time to reach out, which is why there are resources available for every situation and every level of stress. Please take the time to inform yourself of available resources, including:

• • • • •

Your College Registrar Student Life Safety & Support Student Life Health & Wellness Mental Health Resources Emergency support if you’re feeling distressed

An important part of the University experience is learning how and when to ask for help. Please take the time to inform yourself of available resources.

Other Student Services and Support Resources • • •

Accessibility Services Academic Success Centre Mental Health Resources

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•

Links to Additional Student Services and Support Resources (general services and support for students, international student support, Health & Wellness, financial aid and professional development)

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