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GEOG 346 – Days 1&2

GEOG 346 – Days 1&2. Urban and Regional Management. Welcome to 346 and happy new year!. I’m Don Alexander – been at VIU for 8½ years, including teaching this course; also registered planner, writer on planning issues, and occasional research consultant.

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GEOG 346 – Days 1&2

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  1. GEOG 346 – Days 1&2 Urban and Regional Management

  2. Welcome to 346 and happy new year! • I’m Don Alexander – been at VIU for 8½ years, including teaching this course; also registered planner, writer on planning issues, and occasional research consultant. • My office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 to 12:30, and by appointment, in Building 359 (Room 215). I will occasionally be unavailable because of other meetings. • I would like to hear from each of you for one minute as to why you are taking this course and if you have any special interests. • Anyone with GIS skills? • Anyone have a problem with a presenter being videotaped?

  3. Welcome to 346 and happy new year! • the issues and stresses facing municipalities and regions • the impacts that urban development have on the global ecological and social justice crisis • some past and emerging paradigms for organizing urban and regional development • issues related to sprawl, density, land use mix, and transportation infrastructure • why “sense of place” is becoming increasingly important in urban and regional management, and • the role of nature in an urban and regional context.

  4. textbook • Seven Rules for Sustainable Communities by Patrick Condon (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2010) – is it in the bookstore? Courtesy of Keppel Corporation What is your image of the ideal sustainable city?

  5. EXERCISE • Pick an urban region where you have lived during your life: what worked well, and what were some significant problems? (If you want, choose different regions for each). • This course is about how the imperatives/ crucial issues for urban and regional management are changing dramatically. In the past, the key ones were: “orderly” development (though too often the planners and managers were serving the interests of developers), infrastructure (roads, sewer/ water, hospitals, fire services/ police, community centres), adequate housing and green space, etc.

  6. Course Outline For today and Thursday, I would you to look at the Preface and Introduction of Ecocities (revised edition) by Richard Register, available as an e-copy though our library (just look up the title). • See course web site (no Moodle) at http://web.viu.ca/alexander2 • The textbook by Patrick Condon is short and sweet, and is written by a Vancouver prof who practices what he preaches. He has been involved in lots of green development projects, in addition to helping to run the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC. • In addition, I have added some supplementary readings to the course outline.)

  7. Course Outline • I also think you will find Mark Roseland’s Toward Sustainable Communities to be very helpful. It is also available as an e-copy. The course schedule is subject to changes, but I hope to start discussing climate change and water security issues on Thursday. • I want to cover these and some of the other key issues in urban and regional management before getting heavily into the text. They are background issues for him, but he doesn’t get into them in much depth. His approach is more descriptive and prescriptive. • See the dates, topics, questions and readings for each week, and note that an outline for your major project is due on February 5th, and your final project is due on April 4th.

  8. Course Outline • The grades are weighted as follows: 15% participation and attendance, 30% three mini-assignments (may be reduced to 2), 30% major project (includes 5% for outline), and 25% final exam. If time permits, you will get a chance to share the results of your research with the rest of the class. • The major project will involve looking at how one or more municipality or region is addressing one or more of the issues raised in this course and with what tools and approaches. More instructions to follow, but the basic strategy is one of case study research which may be unfamiliar to you. We will go over some basic pointers.

  9. Course Outline • There is an extensive bibliography at the end of the outline. I will provide additional resources as needed for your specific projects. • Anyone with any GIS capabilities? • If you have any thoughts about the benefits of individual vs. group work, I would like to hear them. • See the section in the course outline about laptops and phones. They’re allowed, but don’t abuse them. • Any questions, concerns, or comments?

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