Course syllabus

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Course-PM

ARK 535 Social-Ecological Urbanism studio, lp4 VT24, 15.0 c

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Contact details

Examiner

Meta Berghauser Pont, meta.berghauserpont@chalmers.se

Course coordinator

Ioanna Stavroulaki, gianna.stavroulaki@chalmers.se

Teachers

Ioanna Stavroulaki, gianna.stavroulaki@chalmers.se

Lars Marcus, lars.marcus@chalmers.se

Jane Bobkova, evgeniya.bobkova@chalmers.se

Student representatives:

MPDSD   fredrik.olausson144@gmail.com   Fredrik Olausson
MPDSD   rasmus.olin.pape@gmail.com      Rasmus Olin Pape
MPARC   constanzada@gmail.com   Constanza Andrea Quioza Rodriguez
MPARC   alettaz@chalmers.se     Aletta Zsuzsanna Tóth

MPDSD schajik@student.chalmers.se Sebastiaan Van Schajik

Course purpose

The aim of the course is to strengthen students understanding and skills of how urban design can create conditions that contribute to more resilient and sustainable cities using a scientific approach, often referred to as evidence-based design or research informed design. To combine an artistic and scientific design approach in urban design is important to contribute to national and international sustainability goals.

It is expected that 70% of the world population will be living in urban areas by 2050. At the same time, cities consume almost 80% of the world’s energy, produce more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions and are generally associated with biodiversity losses, as well as other environmental threats. Although cities, in many ways, have contributed to current problems, they also have the potential, if designed well, to contribute to the solution. To do so, it is crucial to have an in-depth understanding of how the urban environment affects social, economic and ecological processes. This integral design approach where these dimensions are combined is coined ‘social-ecological urbanism’.

The course will give students the theories, methods and tools to identify strengths and weaknesses in existing urban areas, formulate strategies to improve these areas and explore possible design alternatives. Spatial analysis is used to continuously evaluate these design alternatives. This iterative design process (from design to analyses and back to design) aims to support decision making towards solutions that best contribute to sustainable development, including goals related to human health and well-being, but also resource efficiency and biodiversity.

Content

The course centres around the concept of social-ecological urbanism, an approach positioned at the interface of urban design and urban ecology. It points out how resilience in interlinked social and ecological urban systems can be addressed through design to support political goals and aims on sustainability. Social-ecological urbanism offers a far broader conception of urban sustainability than current discourses, by addressing cities on the relevant systems level, where, moreover, social, economic and ecological urban systems are combined. Social-ecological urbanism integrates and aligns ecological and social services in cities and uses resilience as a guiding design principle.  

The project results in a masterplan that is developed by a group of students. A masterplan is a document that guides the physical development of a city or part of its territory. It should structure and accommodate change and provide conditions to steer the change towards more resilient and sustainable outcomes. Spatial analyses are used to continuously evaluate design alternatives and through an iterative design process support decision making towards solutions that best contribute to the aims of the masterplan.  

Different themes are introduced step-by-step through lectures, literature and workshops to gradually increase complexity. The three themes are:

  • Design approaches: e.g. social-ecological urbanism, system thinking, evidence based design
  • Design elements: e.g. streets centrality, accessibility, barriers, built density, plot patterns, green and blue infrastructure
  • Design outcomes: e.g. walkability, social segregation, health & wellbeing, biodiversity, ecosystem services

 

Schedule

TimeEdit

Course literature

See Course Booklet.

Course design

The studio is organised around a sequence of workshops, GIS laboratories, lectures, literature seminars and the design project. Lectures are thematic and provide the latest research on a specific topic, while literature seminars deepen understanding and critical reading of the for the course central approaches and theories. Workshops give room for experiments, GIS laboratories give the technical skills to conduct advanced spatial analyses, and the design project synthesises all this.

  • Design project. The skills learned during the GIS laboratories and workshops and the knowledge from the lectures and literature seminars will be synthesised and applied in the design project using an evidence-based design approach.
  • GIS laboratories. The use of quantitative GIS (Geographic Information System) data is central for the work in the studio and the skills are learned during the GIS laboratories. Software and tutorials are provided.
  • Workshops. During the workshops the advanced spatial analyses and theoretical knowledge are applied using simple design problems that enable the students to quickly go through a "design loop" of analysing, designing alternatives and evaluating effects.
  • Lectures. Throughout the whole semester lectures are scheduled to introduce new themes that support the other course components. The lectures are given by experts from Chalmers, but also guests from other universities and practice.
  • Seminars. During the seminars, the central theories addressing the relation between urban form and urban life are discussed with the aim to actively use the evidence in the design project.

 

Learning objectives and syllabus

After completion of the course the student should be able to:

  1. Explain how the physical environment in terms of its density, centrality, connectivity and accessibility affects social, economic and ecological processes in cities using theories central within urban morphology and social-ecological urbanism.
  2. Analyze and visualize geographic data using descriptive-analytic methodology and tools central to Space Syntax.
  3. Formulate strengths and weaknesses of a given site and strategies for change, supported by relevant research within the fields urban morphology and social-ecological urbanism.
  4. Evaluate design alternatives using research and spatial analysis to support decision-making toward design solutions that best contribute to sustainable development, including goals related to human health and well-being, but also resource efficiency and biodiversity.
  5. Communicate results of the project in text, drawings and maps characterized by coherence and logic as well as an appropriate use of spatial analyses and references to relevant research.
  6. Reflect on the difference between a design process based on an artistic approach and a scientific approach (e.g. evidence-based design and research informed design) and exemplify this with experiences from the course.

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

https://www.student.chalmers.se/sp/course?course_id=37161

Examination form

The grade is a weighted average of the following aspects (weight in brackets):

  • Written report (booklet) and oral presentations (compulsory attendance at the midterm- and final presentation) of the design project, where the lectures and related literature should be used (50%, group work)
  • Compulsory attendance at the GIS laboratories, alternative (in case of absence) written assignment (10%, individual work)
  • Written reports for workshop 1, 2 and 3 (10%, group work)
  • Written report of ‘Testing the rules of the Masterplan’ (20%, individual work)
  • Written assignment in the form of a reflection on the shift of the urban design practice from experience-based craft to theory-based profession (10%, individual work)
  • Attendance: less than 70% attendance pulls down the grade

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.

 

Course summary:

Date Details Due