Field Project in Urban and Regional Planning
The course focuses on analyzing planning challenges, approaches and practices “on the ground” in a selected city or region abroad. The module entails a 10 days field course, which is prepared with exercises and seminars. After the field course emphasis is on analysis and presentation.
The course requires a Bachelor degree incl. 90 HECs in Human Geography or Urban and Regional Planning, or accepted to a master programme in Human Geography, Urban and Regional Planning or Globalization, Environment and Social Change, and English 6.
The course investigates how urban and regional police, planning agendas and projects are being debated, negotiated and implemented on-site. The student collets information in the field, engage with policy-makers, practitioners and other planning professionals in one particular city or region abroad (preferentially in Europe) in order to do in-situ analysis of planning and development challenges at the local or regional scale.
The course provides the student with advanced critical knowledge about actual planning work and thus prepare for a future professional commissions. The international perspective helps the student to become more sensitive about different planning approaches, concepts and development-paths across Europe or elsewhere and to compare these with their hitherto made experiences in their own national, regional or local context.
In addition, the student will be able to conduct qualified field work, most likely within a so far unknown national, regional and local context.
An Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) with the theme "Environmental Planning and Territorial Development" is carried out in collaboration with Leibniz Universität Hannover, Université de Tours and Universität für Bodenkultur Wien. The intensive programme is an optional part of the course and consists of a virtual mobility (digital) and a physical mobility (field course during about one week). In the spring semester 2025, the field course location will be in France. Selection for the BIP is made by lottery.
Teaching Format
Obligatory teaching is supervision, seminars and exercises, and a field course with excursions, field work and study visits.
Detailed information, including grading criteria, is presented at the course introduction and via the collaboration and learning environment Athena.
Learning objectives
Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to:
- carry out a field project, which critically studies a self-defined case study in urban and regional planning,
- prepare, carry out and critically reflect on data collection and professional conversations with planning practitioners and other local stakeholders,
- engage in and practice transnational cooperation,
- orally and in writing formulate and compile results from field projects.
Assessment
Examination takes place through a field diary and oral and written presentation of a field report.
The course is assessed in following parts:
Field Project in Urban and Regional Planning – paper, 6 credits
Field Project in Urban and Regional Planning – field diary, 1.5 credits
Alternatively:
Field Project in Urban and Regional Planning – paper, 4.5 credits
BIP Environmental Planning and Territorial Development, 3 credits
Examiner
Several teachers assess and grade within the course.
Examiner: Peter Schmitt
