Urban Social Geography: Contemporary Issues

Key themes in contemporary urban social geography

 

The course discusses the key themes and trends in contemporary urban social geography. In-class lectures focus on segregation, daily mobility, criminality, suburbanization and other topics, allowing to compare research from Prague with other European cities. The course also offers two field trips (to a housing estate and a suburb of Prague), on which the students’ work is based. The emphasis of the course is on reading and discussion as well as on own field work and its presentation. Participation and co-operation of Czech and Erasmus as well as urban geographers and students of other disciplines is encouraged, giving the opportunity for networking and exchange of ideas across countries and fields of study. Completion of previous courses in urban geography is not required.

 

Summer term 2018/2019: Thursdays 9 a.m., room Z1 in Albertov 6

Web page of the course in Moodle.

Date	Topic	Lecturer/ Exercises
21.2.	Introduction to the course, requirements Prague as an urban laboratory	Ivana Přidalová Martin Ouředníček
28.2.	Foreigners in Prague	Ivana Přidalová
7.3.	Gentrification and inner city	Petra Špačková, Jan Sýkora
14.3.	Housing estates	Petra Špačková
21.3.	Suburbanisation	Martin Ouředníček
28.3.	Test I Post-socialist city	Ivana Přidalová Anneli Kährik
4.4.	Daily mobility within the city	Lucie Pospíšilová
11.4.	Residential mobility and residential choice	Joanne Hirtzel, Petra Špačková, Marie Horňáková
11. 4. afternoon	Field trip: Černý Most	Petra Špačková, Lucie Pospíšilová
18.4.	Dean’s day – no class
25.4.	Residential mobility and segregation	Martin Ouředníček
2.5.	Test II Field trip: Suburbs of Prague	Ivana Přidalová Martin Ouředníček
9.5.	No class, compensation for field trip on afternoon of 11 April
20.5.	Conference (presentation of research projects)	Martin Ouředníček, Petra Špačková, Ivana Přidalová

 

Course requirements and evaluation criteria 

Basic level

• Total score in tests I and II > 50 %
• Attendance of at least 7 lectures (excluding Introduction), including compulsory attendance of discussion seminars
• Timely submission of at least 6 pre-class assignments (submitted via Moodle, annotation of required reading + answers to all questions suggested in Moodle)

Exam

• Same conditions as for basic level plus:
• Activity and discussion of required readings in class
• Research project (in pairs)

• discussion of research questions and brief literature overview
• discussion of methodology
• submission of draft paper
• presentation and discussion of research project at the "USG II conference"
• submission of research paper

 

Find more information in Moodle.

From lectures: Test

 

Exercise: Team work

 

 Field trip to Černý Most housing estate: