All activities that form part of this course will be delivered remotely in Sem 2 2020. Please direct enquiries to envs2012@anu.edu.au
Sustainable Urban Systems aims to provide an in-depth understanding of urbanization and sustainable urban systems to students without a systemic previous exposure to the topic. Urbanization is one of the major social transformations of our time that has profound impacts on people and the planet. Cities play an increasingly critical role in local, regional and global sustainability, presenting enormous challenges but also a window of opportunity to “get it right”. The course will explore key topics such as the trend and impacts of global urbanization, the role of cities in sustainability, theoretical and conceptual understanding of cities as systems, analytical tools in measuring sustainability performance of cities, managing urban environment, and urban sustainability experiments and transition towards sustainability. A systems perspective is a common thread throughout the course. The course is strongly interdisciplinary, drawing on both classic and most recent literature in urban geography, urban ecology, urban environmental management, urban sustainability, systems innovation and transition. The course builds on Human Ecology, where the evolutionary history of human-nature relationships as well as a systems approach towards understanding such relationship is explored.
This course is co-taught with undergraduate students but assessed separately.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the state, drivers and impacts of global urbanization, and the role of cities in global sustainability
- Demonstrate a conceptual understanding of various key perspectives towards understanding urban system, and ability to integrate and apply them in analyzing real work practice. Key perspectives include cities as place, as organism and super organism, to cities as human dominant complex systems, as well as associated concepts and analytical tools, including urban metabolism, ecosystem approach in cities, urban-rural gradient, etc.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the challenges and opportunities in managing and governing real world cities, and develop capacity to identify and enable innovative and successful practices in cities.
- Develop a systemic thinking of cities with appreciation of various interconnections among different urban structures, functions, agencies, and processes, being able to apply such understanding to critically analyze and create new approaches in their future professional practices.
Other Information
If you do not meet the requisites for this course, it may be possible to receive a permission code. If you are prompted for a permission code on ISIS, please request one online via the following form.
Indicative Assessment
- Open book test/quiz on basic concepts (25) [LO 1,2]
- Participation and contribution to class discussion and other course related activities, and facilitation of, student-led seminar activities (10) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Research project report, a quantitative or qualitative, reflective exploration of a chosen element of a real world city (solid waste management, transportation, urban material energy flow, inequalities and urban poverty etc), and recommended strategies to improve the situation. (45) [LO 2,3,4]
- Poster and presentation of the findings of the research project (20) [LO 2,3,4]
In response to COVID-19: Please note that Semester 2 Class Summary information (available under the classes tab) is as up to date as possible. Changes to Class Summaries not captured by this publication will be available to enrolled students via Wattle.
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the semester including:
- Face-to face component which may consist of 1 x 2 hour lecture plus 1 x 3 hour workshop per week
- Approximately 70 hours of self-study which will include preparation for lectures, presentations and other assessment tasks.
Students are expected to actively participate and contribute towards discussions.
Inherent Requirements
To be determined
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Not applicable.
Preliminary Reading
There will be weekly readings. In addition, the following books are recommended, both for better understanding course contents and good examples for potential student project topics.
- Elmqvist, T., X. Bai, N. Frantzeskaki, C. Griffith, D. Maddox, T. McPhearson, S. Parnell, P. Romero-Lankao, and D. Simon, M. Watkins (eds). 2018. Urban Planet: Knowledge towards sustainable cities. Cambridge University Press. Open access www.cambridge.org/9781107196933.
- Boyden, S., Millar, S., Newcombe, K. and O'Neill, B., 1981. Ecology of a city and its people: The case of Hong Kong. Australian National University.
- Tim Beatley Green Urbanism: Learning from European cities. Island Press 2000.
- Pelling, M., 2012. The vulnerability of cities: natural disasters and social resilience. Routledge.)
Areas of Interest
- Geography
- Human Ecology
- Interdisciplinary Studies - Sustainability
- Environmental Studies
- Human Sciences
- Population Studies
Specialisations
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $4050 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $5760 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8978 | 27 Jul 2020 | 03 Aug 2020 | 31 Aug 2020 | 30 Oct 2020 | In Person | View |
