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ARCT41240

Academic Year 2024/2025

Urban Resilience and Ethics (ARCT41240)

Subject:
Architecture
College:
Engineering & Architecture
School:
Architecture, Plan & Env Pol
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Philip Crowe
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

The module seeks to support students in formulating their own perspective, approach and vision of how the design, planning and management of the built environment can adequately respond to the convergence of existential crises such as climate change, biodiversity loss and resource depletion.
With society increasingly urbanised, how our towns and cities develop in the coming years and decades is crucial to the transition towards urban resilience and sustainability. Important factors in determining this trajectory include personal and societal ethical perspectives. This module will explore these factors and examine different responses to the convergence of crises within urbanism, focussing on the prevalent discourse on urban resilience and what this means in practice. The import of citizen engagement and participation through civic tech and the role of imagination in making the transition are also explored.


About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module students should be able to demonstrate:
• an ability to discuss and reflect upon different ideas and discourses in sustainable urbanism;
• a working knowledge of urban resilience theory and practice;
• an understanding of community resilience and the import of imagination in addressing the convergence of crises;
• a high level understanding of environmental ethical perspectives and how they can help formulate decisions and responses to challenges;
• an understanding of how ethics can apply to urban design;
• high level understanding of challenges and opportunities relating to Irish towns as distributed centres for the low carbon transition;
• awareness of the import and challenges of citizen engagement and active participation with change in the built environment;
• development of group working, communication and envisioning skills.

Indicative Module Content:

Examples of topics that may be included in any year include:
• Environmental ethics and the city
• Concepts and discourses of sustainable urbanism
• Urban resilience theory and practice
• Vacancy and adaptive reuse
• Revitalisation of existing urban settlements
• Citizen engagement with urban change
• Community resilience, imagination and change

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Specified Learning Activities

56
Autonomous Student Learning

45
Total

125

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
lectures; peer and group work using a range of media; case studies; reflective learning; student presentations

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Group Work Assignment: Assignment 1: Podcast episode
This assignment is the production of a podcast episode that describes one of the 100 Resilient Cities for a general (but interested) audience.		 Week 8 Graded No
30
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Assignment 2: Re-imagining Irish Towns.
Exploring opportunities to “transcend and include” the best ideas from the past or use existing ideas in a new context or at a different scale.		 Week 10, Week 14 Graded No
70
 No

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

There are 2 assignments: Group assignment (30%), where a grade and feedback is provided to each group. Individual assignment (70%), where a grade and feedback is provided for each submission.

Ahern, J. 2011. "From fail-safe to safe-to-fail: sustainability and resilience in the new urban world." Landscape and Urban Planning 100(4): 341-343. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.02.021
Bookchin, M. 2005. Ecology of Freedom: The emergence and dissolution of hierarchy. Oakland CA: AK Press.
Buchanan, P. 2012. The Big Rethink Part 1: Towards a complete architecture. Architectural Review 231(1379): 67-77.
Buchanan, P. 2012. The Big Rethink Part 5: Transcend and include the past. Architectural Review 231(1383): 80-87. Available online here.
Davoudi, S. 2012. "Resilience: A Bridging Concept or a Dead End?" Planning Theory & Practice 13(2): 299-307. doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0350.
Geddes, P. 1915. Cities in Evolution: An introduction to the town planning movement and to the study of civics. 3rd ed. (1968) London: Ernest Benn Limited.
Hall, P. G. 2002. Cities of Tomorrow. 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Heinberg, R. (2007) Peak Everything: Waking up to the century of decline in earth’s resources. Canada, New Society Publishers.
Hopkins, R. 2019. From What Is to What If: Unleashing the power of the imagination to create the future we want. London: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Lovelock, J. 1979. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Meller, H. 1990. Patrick Geddes: Social Evolutionist and City Planner. London: Routledge.
Pojman, L., and P. Pojman, eds. 2008. Environmental Ethics: Readings in theory and application. 5th ed. USA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Sennett, R. 2018. Building and Dwelling: Ethics for the City. UK: Allen Lane.
Welter, V. M. 2002. Biopolis: Patrick Geddes and the City of Life. Cambridge Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Wilkinson, C. 2011. "Social-ecological resilience: Insights and issues for planning theory." Planning Theory 11(2): 148-169. doi:10.1177/1473095211426274.
Wilkinson, C. 2012. "Urban Resilience: What Does it Mean in Planning Practice? ." Planning Theory & Practice 13(2): 319-324. doi:10.1080/14649357.2012.677124.
Wilson, G. A. 2012. Community Resilience and Environmental Transitions. Oxford: Routledge.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Thurs 09:00 - 10:50
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