Course Name: Landscape Urbanism

OCW type: Course

Higher Education Institution: School of Planning and Architecture (SPAB), Bhopal

Description of course

Aim: The course intends to bring the development debates on urbanism and ecology through the approach of landscape urbanism. In last twenty years, landscape urbanism has developed into a disciplinary practice to mitigate the challenges posed by anthropogenic dominance in all fields of life.

Course Objectives:

This subject will critically look at the phenomenon of climate change and its relationship to social significance, implications for human health and urban infrastructure –where landscape urbanism occupies a central position in the development and design discourse. Case studies from Europe and India- systems of social, political and economic world would be discussed to understand the wider urban implications. The course will also reinterpret Urban design process as capacity to incorporate and give physical form to our growing scientific understanding of urban regions as social ecological systems. Case studies in international ( BreUCom) as well as National ( (Bhopal, Indore, Mumbai) will be studied specifically in this aspect.

The course will expect students to take up urban interventions, design case studies and orient their thinking towards the relationship in between the landscapes of city and region.

Learning Outcomes:

The course aims to achieve following learning outcomes with increased ability of students/participants to imbibe and critically understand:

a) The emerging urban discourse in South Asian continent with respect to urban ecology and environment.

b) The idea of resilience in urban systems and design in the context of climate change

c) The vulnerabilities identified of water systems, socio-economic systems, livelihood systems in urban context

d) How urban interventions and urban projects need to be reinterpreted through landscape urbanism perspective.

Course Structure

Course Duration: 13 weeks 

Course Frequency: The course is an elective and part of the existing syllabus of M.Arch.(Urban Design) program at School of Planning and Architecture Bhopal and will be offered every year in second semester of the urban design curriculum.

Course Format: The course looks at current development process through live examples and case studies to explore micro and macro aspects of urban network and system which are emerging in the times of climate change. The course therefore is mainly based on lectures and assignments. Site visits to relevant field case studies in the region of Madhya Pradesh are also part of the lecture plan.

Course Content

Prerequisites for participation: Student must have completed bachelor course in Architecture/Planning.

Course Syllabus:

• Module-I: social significance and implications for human health, environmental justice, and urban infrastructure – Case studies from India- systems of social, political and economic world
• Module-II: Urban design process, as capacity to incorporate and give physical form to our growing scientific understanding of urban regions as social ecological systems
• Module-III: Detailing our development model for a transformational urban design-ecology nexus- case studies from city planning projects across India
• Module-IV: Urban Ecology and City Form- relationships among design, infrastructure, and urban development- joining the three to achieve urban climate resilience and enhance sustainability.
• Module-V: Landscape Urbanism as way to move from an ecology of cities to an ecology for cities based on a knowledge-to-action agenda.

Course Assignments: 

Apart from reading and suggested documentary watching students are required to do following assignments:

1. Selecting an urban infrastructure project currently being built in your area which you think has ecological dimensions or repercussions. Analyze the case and form an understanding of how it is related with urban landscape.

2. Writing a 2000-word paper on the topics of spatial implications:

• ‘Ethnoscapes’ and Informality
• Place Marketing and Landscapes of Consumption
• Privatization, Fortification and Tightening of Public Space
• Non-place Realms and Virtual Public Spaces
• Threat of Climate Change and ‘Peak Oil’
• Unhealthy Neighborhoods

3. Poster making on any urban ecology and climate change issue in global south.

Expected time spent on course:

Time spent in hours: 26 hours

Time spent in ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System): Approximately 01 ECTS

Course Grading

Assessment Criteria and Distribution of Marks:

Course Evaluation

Evaluation Procedure & Criteria:

The nature of this particular subject is elective based. The institution evaluates it on the basis of continuous internal assessment of submissions during the semester and end term viva-voce examination. Weightage for the both evaluation is 50% ( totaling to 100%) where student have to pass the subject separately in both evaluations with minimum 25% marks in each.

Faculty Evaluation:

School of Planning and Architecture Bhopal has an institute wide faculty evaluation format which is filled by students at the end of every semester.

Student Evaluation:

In addition to continuous evaluation of submissions and tasks, students are also evaluated on the basis of involvement in the class, through discussions, initiatives, bringing new information on relevant subject in the class, reading subject related books and completion of readings.