Urban Planning and Resilience

You will develop your overall understanding of alternative views in planning and resilience theories. Students will generate responses to spatial planning and global challenges grounded in theory. .  

The module contributes to your lifelong appreciation of how the core values of urban planning and urban resilience, expressed in theory and in frameworks, may be applied in changing circumstances, particularly as cities suffer more and more shocks and stresses as a result of climate change and global crises.  

The module also addresses the political and ethical dimensions of planning & resilience practice using the lens of the various theories of planning, power & empowerment, and urban change. It considers the distributional aspects of planning and a range of political, technological and organisational rationalities that shape and constrain planning practice. Overall, the module aims to engender in you greater reflexivity about the position of the planner in urban change.

Why do we preserve and why does it matter? This is the underlying question of this module, which we will explore through the analysis of the concept of heritage, how it developed from Antiquity to the present, and how it is still very much an open debate.  

You will learn about meanings and symbolisms behind our understanding of what heritage is, and how these have been shaping conservation attitudes and philosophies. Weekly lectures and seminars introduce different themes, periods, and instances, at both individual and large scale, focussing on the European tradition but with a world outlook. This provides you with a solid introduction to architectural, urban and conservation history and philosophies, which allows you to navigate the complex quest underlying the module.  

You will develop critical thinking, learn about research methodologies, and a variety of communication skills, alongside how to read, write about, and record historic environments.  

By the end of this module, you will never walk around an historic environment as you did before! And you will understand both complexities and opportunities of a career in heritage.

You will develop your understanding of changing planning legislation used to guide development and land use, to appreciate how and why these have changed over time, to critically reflect upon current spatial planning mechanisms and to recognise the linkages between other public policies and spatial policies. The module also covers planning law, the relationship between decision making and the broader facilitation of development outcomes. You will become familiar with the methods and mechanisms used for implementing spatial planning policy, the principles underpinning them, and the role of different stakeholders in the implementation process, and how individual rights and community interests are reconciled. During seminars and industry workshop sessions with practitioners, sometimes joining remotely, you will apply the skills and knowledge gained through lectures to reflect on local and global lessons from practice.

In this module, you will sharpen your understanding of how the core values of urban planning and resilience apply in different cities, in different global contexts and in different operational and legal environments. You will explore through projects, readings and an optional European field visit how the global focus on resilience extends beyond cities to include ecology, international development, health, urban forestry, food security, community planning, and global humanitarian crises. This will enable you to understand the origins of the resilience movement and its emergence as an urban concept allowing urban practitioners to manage a rapidly changing and uncertain urban context. Through a multiple case study approach, this module explores how resilience has become part of cities’ formal planning practice around the world.

You will focus on the impacts of urbanisation on urban climate and impacts for how we plan, design and build places for communities.   

It follows the resilience definition of the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow irrespective of the chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.  

With the focus on the built environment, you will evaluate the impact of urban morphology, built materials and nature-based solutions on the urban microclimate through a range of experimental and digital techniques along with technical site visits and industry-led workshops. In focusing on how cities build climate resilient urban solutions, you will explore how cities address and meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly focusing on SDG11, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and other evolving global sustainability metrics and standards.

What perspectives and research methodologies do different disciplines offer? How can these be utilised to address questions relation to the built environment? How can they help you to address the particular challenges associated with the development of research methods for use in creative processes or industry-based projects? 

This module brings you together with peers from different PGT programmes in order to encourage the exploration of cross-disciplinary approaches to research on the built environment. You will develop a proposal for a written dissertation, research-led creative project, or industry-based project in a topic of your own choice. Delivered over the course of two terms the aim of this module is to support you in developing project proposals in preparation for your final module Dissertation or Industry-based project. You have the options to develop proposals for three kinds of projects: (1) traditional written thesis, (2) research-by-practice, and (3) industry-based project.  Through a programme of seminars and practical workshops you will develop the knowledge and skills required for designing projects within academic and professional settings. You will apply these skills in the development of project proposal that covers a literature review, outline of the methodology, project schedule, and where required, will also involve full research ethics approval.

You will develop your research skills through a large project under the guidance of a supervisor. This can be untaken within an academic or professional setting. You can choose between research-based or practice-based projects in a topic related to their field of study. This provides you with the opportunity to demonstrate your capacity to work as independent researchers in your chosen area of specialism. You will have the choice between three options. You can choose to produce a substantial piece of written work, undertake a creative project, or a project undertaken in the context of external placements within industry or public sector organisations. During the development of your proposal you will have chosen between three pathway options for your project, distinguishing between projects in which you can demonstrate the application of advanced skills and knowledge within the context of an academic research, creative projects or professional placements. The pathways are:  

- **Research project**: You will undertake an independent research project on a topic related to their discipline, which will be assessed on a written dissertation of 12,000-words. This is the pathway for students on the MSc Urban Planning & Resilience.    

- **Creative project (practice-as-research)**: You explore your research questions in the context of a creative project within their field of study. This will be assessed on a portfolio, together with a 4000-word written essay, which will frame and discuss the project theoretically. 

- **Industry-based project**: You explore your research questions through projects within the professional settings of a work placement within the public or private sector. This will be assessed on a project portfolio, together with a 4000-word written essay, offering a critical reflection on research in practice.