Class Urban planning 3.2

The main objective of the Course Unit (CU) is the critical reflection about the city. This objective unfolds into two complementary purposes. On the one hand, the CU focuses on the agents and processes of urban transformation. The aim is to strengthen the theoretical body, in order to understand the fundamental role that cities and urban planning play, relating physical elements with the quality of urban life and social, economic and environmental sustainability. On the other hand, the CU focuses on the understanding of physical form of cities to support architecture, and the CU of Project 4.2, as a tool for a conscious design of the city. It is intended to describe and explain the different elements of urban form, showing how the formal characteristics of these elements, and the way in which they relate to each other, can create urban landscapes with different degrees of urbanity.  

Not applicable

  Books to expand the UC content: history of urbanism, critical theory, relationship between theory and practice, public space. Urban transformation processes: planned and unplanned. Unplanned processes: informal settlements. Impact on countries in the Global South. Living in slums in Portugal in the 21st century. Critical comparison informal city / formal city (urban form and urban life). Planned processes: the Porto PDM. Relationship between urban form, socioeconomic diversity and environmental sustainability: comparison of 4 urban fabrics in Porto. Critical approach to city construction by building index (Porto PDM). Following a sustainable future: compact, diverse, walkable and green city. Contemporary cities: problems and challenges, strategies and proposals for the future. National and European context (England and Germany). Active reading of proposed books (relate UC syllabus, Project 4.2 and daily life).

The Course Unit includes fifteen lessons. Each class lasts 1.5 hours (theoretical-practical classes). The syllabus will be transmitted through lectures, exercises, and follow-up exercises, debate, inverted classroom, promoting participation, and stimulating the students' critical thinking. Assessment will be continuous and based on a set of exercises, with no final exam. The exercises will be mostly individual (there may also be teamwork) and will focus on the fundamental contents of the UC taught to the student throughout the semester. Active participation in classes will be essential for approval (mandatory attendance in 75% of classes) and as an evaluation and appreciation factor. The exercises have a weight of 75% and the participation in the classes of 25%.

Bentley, I., McGlynn, S., Smith, G., Alcock, A., e Murrain, P. (2013 [1985]) Responsive environments. Londres: Routledge. Chueca Goitia, F. (1996[1968]) Breve historia do urbanismo. Editorial Presença Del Rio, Vicente. Introdução ao desenho urbano no processo de planejamento. Editora Pini, 1990. Gehl, J. (2017[1971]) A vida entre edifícios. Lisboa: Tigre de Papel. Hall, P. (2013[1988]) Cidades do amanhã: uma história do planejamento e projetos urbanos no século XX. São Paulo: Editora Perspectiva. Mottelson, J. (2021) Out of control. On urban morphology of informal settlements in East Africa. Tese doutoramento não publicada. https://issuu.com/kadk/docs/johan_mottelson_out_of_control. Oliveira, V, (2011) Avaliação em planeamento urbano. Porto: Edições UP. Oliveira, V. (2022[2016]) Morfologia Urbana: uma introdução ao estudo da forma física das cidades. Curitiba: PUCPRess. White, W. H. (1980) The social life of small urban space. Washington, DC: The Conservation Foundation.