Part A: Course Overview
Course Title: Urban Economics and Spatial Development
Credit Points: 12.00
Terms
Course Code |
Campus |
Career |
School |
Learning Mode |
Teaching Period(s) |
ARCH1408 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 1 2022 |
ARCH1408 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
365H Global, Urban and Social Studies |
Face-to-Face or Internet |
Sem 2 2014, Sem 2 2015, Sem 2 2016, Sem 2 2017, Sem 1 2018, Sem 1 2019, Sem 1 2020, Sem 1 2021, Sem 1 2023, Sem 1 2024, Sem 1 2025 |
Course Coordinator: Dr Anthony Kent
Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 9213
Course Coordinator Email: anthony.kent@rmit.edu.au
Course Coordinator Location: Building 8, level 11
Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
None
Course Description
Increasingly, governments in recent decades have been pre-occupied with the well-being of their economies, as they struggle to either maintain or restore levels of economic prosperity. In this course you will explore how urban planners and environmental managers have been increasingly required to employ economics and a select number of economic tools to assess the potential impact of planning and environmental management decisions upon a city and its broader regional economy. You will explore this facet of spatial public policy analysis and investigate how economics is being used as a tool to make governance decisions about our urban and natural environments.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
Program Learning Outcomes
For those of you in MC222, this course will help you develop the program level outcomes:
PLO1: Critically analyse, synthesise and reflect on recent trends and scholarly analysis of the effects and consequences of urbanisation internationally, including the interplay of ecological, economic, political, social and cultural factors.
For those of you in MC221, this course will help you develop the program level outcomes:
PLO1: Determine and apply the specialist knowledge and technical skills required to develop creative solutions to a range of complex problems that currently confront our built and natural environments
PLO2: Critically analyse, synthesise and reflect on complex theories and recent developments in urban planning and environmental management, both local and international, to extend and challenge knowledge and your scholarly and professional practice.
PLO3: Use a wide range of research tools, methods and strategies to generate new knowledge and inform decision-making in urban planning and environmental management.
PLO6: Critically analyse and reflect on the interplay of economic, political, social, cultural and ecological factors in urban planning and environmental management and apply to your scholarly and professional practice.
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Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- analyse the historical economic context to explain how urban and environmental planning decisions are now being made;
- identify and review key economic concepts that underpin the activities of professionals working in the urban property market and environmental management field;
- analyse how economic costs impinge upon the decision-making processes of different market agents and how this translates into project viability;
- evaluate the decisions of urban planners and environmental managers using a series of economic tools;
- review how economics shaped a number of contemporary examples of urban planning and environmental development in Victoria and elsewhere in Australia.
Overview of Learning Activities
Learning activities have been designed to enable you to demonstrate the key concepts and arguments that underpin spatial decision making in an economic context. You will consolidate this knowledge and understanding through a series of case studies that cater for your urban planning and environmental management interests.
You will be engaged in learning involving a range of activities that may include lectures and tutorials, group and class discussion, group activities and individual research.
Overview of Learning Resources
RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems.
A list of recommended learning resources will be provided which may include books, journal articles and web resources.
You will also be expected to seek further resources relevant to the focus of your own learning.
There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal.
Overview of Assessment
You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes.
Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.
Assessment Tasks:
1. Reading, Discussion and Presentation Task (10%) (Linked to CLO 1 and 2)
2. Understanding Urban Economics Issues Task (20%) (Linked to CLO 1 and 2)
3. Analysing Economic Change Task (25%) (Linked to CLO 3 and 4)
4. Spatial Analysis Task (45%) (Linked to CLO 3, 4 and 5)
If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program manager or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.
Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions