Towards a
New Theory of
Urbanization–?

In the era of globalization when countries compete for global capital, cities are seen as the places where growth can be achieved at any cost through the means of cheap labor and low environmental standards. Cities as drivers of growth have become the norm in emerging economies in the global South, fueled by the overwhelming power of the market and resulting in a strong income polarization in the population and the emergence of poverty and its spatial equivalent – slums – combined with a division of the society.

Although in less developed or emerging regions such an (intermediate) state is often seen as an inevitable step on the way to a better future, this seminar combined with a lecture series and exercises explores with the means of theory and discourse (alternative) possibilities of urban futures. Sources are the history of urban design and planning as well as contemporary new-town and urban renewal projects. During the seminar, the students will discuss texts and analyze case studies from the past and the present.

(photograph: Jesco Denzel)