Urban Geography, GE 300C
Spring 2001
Professor Ellen Hansen
MWF 1:00-1:50
More than half the world's population of 6 billion people live in cities,
and the proportions are increasing as cities grow ever larger. Most of
the largest cities in the world are located in the poorest countries, where
resources are scarce and concentrated in growing urban areas. How do people
survive and even thrive and enjoy themselves in cities of millions of people?
What draws people to continue to move to cities? Why would some people
never live anyplace but Los Angeles or New York City? Cities are dynamic
sites of movement, migration and settlement, where an astonishing variety
of people, cultures and landscapes combine to create a fascinating and
ever-changing mosaic of modern life.
This course will explore contemporary urban problems and potential in a
global context. We will examine the role and functions of cities in global
as well as local frameworks, and in terms of social, economic and political
relations, both within the city and in the larger context. We will investigate
how different groups of people (women, children, disabled people, minorities)
use or are unable to use urban spaces.
Goals for this course: students will be introduced to the study of urban
geography, will gain an understanding of the mechanisms that drive development
and growth of cities and how these differ around the world, how urban structure
is related to various elements within cities and is shaped by history and
urban policy.
For more information, contact:
Professor Ellen Hansen
phone: (316) 341-5576
Return to Spring 2001
Courses
