URBN 230 Urban Geography

This course examines the history of urbanization from a geographic perspective. This entails an analysis of the historical development of cities and an investigation of the spatial theories utilized to understand the causes of urbanization and its impacts on everyday life. The course begins with a discussion of key concepts such as industrialization, urban political-economy, suburbanization, and the ghetto/inner city. The course then focuses on four inter-related urban processes: working in the city, governing the city, living in the city, and urban
social movements. This course begins to tell a more complete story of the urban form and the way in which this mode of life continues to alter human institutions and social relations well beyond the boundaries of the city.