URBAN GEOGRAPHY Geography 210, Spring Semester :00pm-5:15pm, Tuesday/Thursday Brooks Hall, Room 151

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1 URBAN GEOGRAPHY Geography 210, Spring Semester :00pm-5:15pm, Tuesday/Thursday Brooks Hall, Room 151 INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Jeremia Njeru OFFICE: Brooks 235 OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday/Thursday 2.30pm-3.30pm or by appointment PHONE: PREREQUISITES: Geography 102 (World Regions), Geography 108 (Human Geography) or consent. Introduction Most, if not all, of you live in cities or urban areas. Indeed, you are not alone. The world s population has increasingly become urbanized. While in 1950, less than 30% of the world s population lived in cities. Today, more than half live in urban centers ( more than 3 billion people) By 2050, the world's urban population will almost double from 3.4 billion to 6.3 billion. Developed nations, like the United States, already have a higher percentage of urban residents than in less developed countries. Urbanization is therefore occurring rapidly in the less developed countries. Unsurprisingly, urban issues and policies are central to the agenda of public debate and have become major concerns of governmental and global institutions (such as the World Bank or the United Nations). Geography has crucial role to play in understanding urban issues. Geography is a dynamic field of study that is defined by its focus on the SPATIAL dimensions of a phenomena or issue (e.g., a city, economic activity, etc). In particular, geography focuses on the substance or content of a phenomena, its interaction and relationships with other phenomena, and on the social and environmental processes that give rise to the patterns, structure, and organization of the phenomena in space (or in specific locations on the earth, e.g., West Virginia). In this course we will approach urban geography in a way that considers patterns, structures, and organization of cities, and the complex processes behind them, with reference to cities such as our own Morgantown to cities as far away as Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. We will pay close attention to the role of social processes and categories such as race, class, and gender in shaping the urban landscape. COURSE PURPOSE: 1

2 The goal of this course is for students to understand the processes that give rise to the spatial organization of urban phenomena, and will generally involve gaining understanding of concepts relating to the process of urbanization and its outcomes with greater emphasis on American experiences. LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of this course students will be expected to: Understand the basic concepts and theories in the field of urban geography; Have a better sense of the elements that constitute urban systems, and the social forces that shape these systems; Have a sense of the political, economic, and technological forces shaping the development of urban systems, and an understanding of the social processes associated with creating order and disorder in the urban environment; Understand patterns and interactions within cities, and how they have evolved; and Apply knowledge gained from this class to a variety of urban issues as outlined in the exams and exercises. REQUIRED TEXT Urbanization: An Introduction to Urban Geography. Second edition. Paul L. Knox and Linda McCarthy. Pearson / Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ (K & M). Some more readings will be drawn from: Urban Geography, Second edition, David Kaplan, James Wheeler, and Steven Holloway. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ. (These readings will be provided on E-campus at least a week before class) NOTE: I will be using other materials to prepare my lectures and during class-including films, video clips, website-links, etc. It is important therefore that you make every effort to attend all classes. INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES: Learning in this course includes in-class lectures, exercises, discussions, assigned readings in the textbook, and other relevant material I may find in the course of the semester-such as news articles. Lectures will contain a great deal of visual illustrations (videos, and Power-Point presentation). Class participation, discussion and questions are strongly encouraged. The outline of lecture power point slides will be available on e-campus. 2

3 STUDENT EVALUATION: Question and Answer Activity 20% 95 (5 points each) 2 out-of-class exercises 6% 30 (15 points each) 3 video exercises 6% 30 (10 points each) 3 Quizzes 13 % 60 (20 points each) Mid-Term 23% 110 Final Exam 32% 150 Total 100% 475 GRADING A B C D F 59, and below. Participation You will be expected to attend all classes and engage in class discussions, and clearly demonstrate your familiarity with assigned reading material. Question and Answer Pairs (QAPs) You will be required to bring to class one question generated from each class assigned readings (about a concept, theme, issue covered in the readings). You will be given about 5 minutes to ask your prepared question to one fellow student and in turn answer that student s question. Your question and your answer to someone else s question should demonstrate your familiarity with the readings. Each student will grade each other s response on a scale of 1 to 5. Please BRING to CLASS your TYPED question. Writing questions in the class will NOT be accepted. Each activity will be worth 5 points allocated by me. NOTE: First QAP will be on Jan. 18 and last on April 19. None will be needed the days when exercises 1 and 2 are due. Out-of-Class Exercise We will have two out of class exercises. You will be told a week ahead of class which exercises it will be. The exercises will be designed to help you link material covered in class to real-life urban issues. Each exercise will be worth 15 points. Video Exercises We will watch 3 videos in class (excluding short you-tube video clips). To help you make sense of the videos in the context of concepts or issues discussed in class, as you watch you will be required to fill-in answers to questions prepared by me. I will be collecting your answers at the end of the class. 10 points will be awarded for each exercise. Quizzes 3

4 We will have 3 short quizzes of about 20 multiple-choice questions, 1 point per question. THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UPS FOR MISSED QUIZZES!! Mid-Exam This exam will consist of a mix of multiple choice and short answer questions, and will include the material covered in class up to that point. MAKE-UP EXAMS will be given with a valid excuse and will consist of ESSAYS. Final Exam: This exam will be more comprehensive, and will have a mix of multiple choice, shortanswer/definition, and essay questions. MAKE-UP EXAMS will be given with a valid excuse and will consist of essays. NOTE: Please bring your own pencil and a blue No Scantron form the Final Exam. Also Bring a Blue book. COURSE SCHEDULE* WK DATE TOPIC READING 1 Jan. 11 Introductions: Course outline, instructor, & students Jan. 13 Introductions: What is urban geography? Chapter 1 2 Jan. 18 The Origins and Growth of Cities: Explanations why Cities originated, Places where early Cities began Jan. 20 The Origins and Growth of Cities: urban expansion from regions of origin 3 Jan. 25 The Foundations of the American Urban System: emergence of US. Urban system from late pre independence to 1875 Chapter 2: Pg Chapter 2: Pg Chapter 3: Pg

5 Jan. 27 The Foundations of the American Urban System: Urban system between ; concepts and explanations of urbanization process (Quiz 1) 4 Feb. 1 Globalization and the Urban Systems: emergence of new inter-urban hierarchies Feb. 3 Globalization and the Urban Systems: Interrelationships between world cities 5 Feb. 8 Urban Form and Land Use: emergence of internal structure (layout) of American Cities (Class exercise 1) Feb. 10 Urban Form and Land Use: development of American urban form at metropolitan level 6 Feb. 15 Urban Social Landscapes: explanations of American urban residential organization Feb. 17 Urban Social Landscapes: contemporary trends in American urban residential organization 7 Feb. 22 Exam Review Feb, 24 Mid-Term Exam 8 Mar. 1 Urban Housing Market: Basics of Housing Markets and Neighborhood Change Mar. 3 Urban Housing Market: Gatekeepers, Bias, and Discrimination 9 Mar. 8 Segregation, Race, Gender, and Urban Poverty: Patterns of and cause of residential racial segregation Chapter 3:Pg Kaplan Reading: on E- campus. Kaplan Reading: On E-campus. Chapter 5: Pg Chapter 6: Pg Chapter 12: Pg Chapter 12: Pg Chapter 13: Pg Chapter 13: Video # 1 Kaplan Reading: On E-campus 5

6 Mar. 10 Segregation, Race, Gender, and Urban Poverty: Explanations of urban Poverty and poverty eradication efforts (Quiz 2) 10 Mar. 15 Immigration, Ethnicity, Gender, and Urbanism: Review of patterns of immigration (Class Exercise 2) Mar. 17 Immigration, Ethnicity, Gender and Urbanism: Impacts of the recent immigration on cities Chapter 15: Pg Kaplan Reading On E-campus Kaplan Reading On E-campus Kaplan Reading On E-campus Video # 2 11 Mar. 22, 24 Spring Break No Class Mar. 29 Urbanization in Less Developed Countries: Urbanization trends and Origins Chapter 7: Pg Mar. 31 Impacts of over-urbanization developing countries Chapter 9: Pg Apr. 5 Urban form and land use in less developed countries: Morphology of Latin American cities (Quiz 3) Chapter 8:Pg Apr. 7 Urban form and land use in less developed countries: Morphology of a Sub-Saharan African cities 14 Apr. 12, 14 Attend AAG/ Videos : shown in Class-Extra Credits 15 Apr. 19 Urban Policy and Planning: Development of Modern Planning Chapter 8: Pg Chapter 17: Pg Apr. 21 Urban Policy and Planning: Contemporary Planning 16 Apr. 26 Class Conclusions Chapter 17: Video # 3 Apr. 28 Exam Review 17 May. 6 Final Exam 8.00am-10.00am *Note that this schedule is tentative and may change in the course of the semester. I will make announcements when changes have been made. Please 6

7 assume responsibility to check your WVU Mix account regularly. Addition information for the course will be made available through WVU s website at Log on to the course using your mix username and login. *Also be sure to check the schedule every week to make sure you know which assignments and readings are required for which day. OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!! GEC OBJECTIVES MET BY THIS COURSE Urban Geography is a 3 credit course which fulfills WVU General Education Curriculum Objective 4: Contemporary Society and Objective 7: American Culture. DAYS OF SPECIAL CONCERN WVU recognizes the diversity of its students and the needs of those who wish to be absent from class to participate in Days of Special Concern, which are listed in the Schedule of Courses. Students should notify me by the end of the second week of classes or prior to the first Day of Special Concern, whichever is earlier, regarding Day of Special Concern observances that will affect their attendance. Further, students must abide by the attendance policy of this class, as stated on the syllabus. I will make reasonable accommodation for assignments that a student misses as a result of observing a Day of Special Concern, so long as I am notified in advance as specified above. SOCIAL JUSTICE STATEMENT West Virginia University is committed to social justice. I support that commitment and expect to maintain a positive learning environment based upon open communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination. WVU does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, disability, veteran status, religion, sexual orientation, color or national origin. Any suggestions as to how to further such a positive and open environment in this class will be appreciated and given serious consideration. If you are a person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of accommodation in order to participate in this class, please advise me and make appropriate arrangements with Disability Services ( ). 7

8 ACADEMIC INTEGRITY STATEMENT The West Virginia University Undergraduate Catalog defines academic dishonesty in the following ways: Plagiarism: material that has been knowingly obtained or copied in whole or in part (without acknowledgement) from the work of others. Cheating: doing academic work for another student, or providing one s own work for another student to copy and submit as his/her own. Because plagiarism and cheating violate the principle of academic integrity, clear documentation that this has occurred will result in an F for this course. 8