| Instructor Information | Course Information |
|---|---|
| Anthony Howell, PhD | Course Meeting Time: Mondays, 6:40-8:30pm |
| Office: #322 School of Economics Bldg. | Course Meeting Location: 二教413 |
| Email: tonyjhowell@pku.edu.cn | Office Hours: By Appt. |
Today, a majority of the world’s population lives in cities. By 2050, two-thirds of all people on the planet are projected to call urbanized areas their home. More than 90% of the global urban growth is expected to take place in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Rapid urban growth has been dubbed one of the biggest challenges by skeptics and one of the biggest opportunities by optimists. On the one hand, cities are engines of economic success and hub of innovation. The 750 biggest cities on the planet account for 57% of today’s GDP, and this share is projected to rise further. On the other hand, urban centers in the U.S. (e.g. Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland), and elsewhere, suffered significant job losses in the 1970s and 1980s as their manufacturing bases declined, leading to urban decline. Moreover, in less developed and developing countries, up to one-third of the urban population resides in slum conditions, driven in part, by the inflow of poor rural residents that has created hubs of urban poverty. This class provides students with some of the most recent research that focuses on cities, drawing on themes from economic geography, regional science and urban economics.
Participation It is encouraged and expected that each student attend class on time, participate whenever possible and contribute to course discussions.
Mini-Projects
The first mini-project is called, “Urban Snapshots,” and it requires each student to take ‘scenes’ relevant to you and your local city and interpret them through an urban lens. Students will take several pictures of the Beijing area that encapsulate issues of urbanization both good and bad, e.g. luxury cars/hotels, tall skylines contrasted by congestion, pollution, inequality, etc. You will write a short reflection of your experience and give a short presentation to the class.
The second mini-project is called, ``Cluster Mapping’’ and it requires students to study an industrial cluster in China and create a Cluster Map, highlighting the main actors and the type of interactions that take place within your selected cluster. Students will visit that cluster, take pictures and carry out an interview with one of the actors within the cluster. You will write a short reflection of your experience and give a short presentation to the class.
Final project Paper/Presentation:
The final project for the class will ask you to study the creation and building of smart cities in China. You will ideally study one city and one pilot program being carried out in China, highlighting the main technologies being used, participatory actors and the main potential benefits and challenges that may exist. Students will survey the peer-reviewed literature in English and Chinese to see what research has been done already, synthesize that information, contact one or two academics that have published on the topic and interview her/him about their opinions regarding the main benefits/challenges with building smart cities in China. This project is intended to provide students with the complete experience of going from a study question (what are the benefits/challenges of building smart cities), conducting literature review, carrying out fieldwork to address that question via interviews of informed actors, to writing a complete analytical report to help inform policy.
Summary of Grade Distribution
| Activity | Grade Contribution |
|---|---|
| Participation | 10% |
| Mini-projects | 40% |
| Cluster Map Paper/Presentation | 50% |
A WeChat group will be created for the class to serve as discussion forums for the class in order to facilitate interaction between students and to promote broader participation. Students are expected to conduct themselves with respect by posting comments and replies only in the context of the course. It is encouraged to not email the instructor or TA directly, rather use the Wechat class group to ask general questions. Your question will probably help other classmates.
Excessive tardiness or absences will negatively affect your final grade. Plagiarism is not allowed in any form. To avoid distractions, please do not use your cell phones or surf the web during class.
I value students’ opinions regarding my teaching effectiveness and the content, pace and level of difficulty of the course. I will take student feedback in consideration to make this course as exciting and engaging as possible. Thus, I will ask students for feedback during the semester by giving students a short survey on my teaching effectiveness, preferred teaching methods, and pace of the class. You can also leave anonymous feedback in the form of a note in my departmental mail box.
| Week | Date | Topic | Assigned Reading | Important Dates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9/17 | Course Introduction | ||
| 2 | 9/24 | Holiday - No Class | ||
| 3 | 10/1 | Holiday - No Class | ||
| 4 | 10/8 | Zipf’s Law and Science of Cities |
1. Bettencourt et al., 2007, PNAS (Link); 2. Chauvin et al., 2016, JUE, pg. 1-9 (Link) |
|
| 5 | 10/15 | Spatial Equilibrium | 1. Kemeny and Storper, 2012, JRS (Link); 2. Chauvin et al., 2016, JUE, pg. 9-17 (Link) |
Mini-Project I: Due 10/22 |
| 6 | 10/22 | Determinants of City Success |
1. Glaeser and Resseger, 2010, JRS (Link); 2. Chauvin et al., 2016, JUE, pg. 17-26 (Link) |
Urban Snapshot Presentation |
| 7 | 10/29 | Anatomy of a Cluster I | 1. Porter, 2000, Econ. Dev. Quarterly (Link) | Urban Snapshot Presentation |
| 8 | 11/5 | Anatomy of a Cluster II | ||
| 9 | 11/12 | Urban Renewal I: Place-Based Policies | 1. Brakman and van Marrewijk, 2013, Cambr. Reg., Soc., Econ. (Link) | |
| 10 | 11/19 | Urban Renewal II: People-Based Policies | 1. Chetty et al., 2016, AER (Link) (Summary); 2. Chetty and Henderson, 2018, QJE (Link) (Summary) |
Mini-Project II: Due 11/26 |
| 11 | 11/26 | Smart Cities | 1. Angelidou, 2015, Cities (Link); 2. Angelidou, 2014, Cities (Link) |
Cluster Map Presentations |
| 12 | 12/3 | Urban Sprawl and Sustainability | 1. Bren d’Amour, 2017, PNAS (Link) | Cluster Map Presentations |
| 13 | 12/10 | Urban Resilience and Natural Disasters | 1. Cutter et al., 2008, Global Env. Change (Link) | |
| 14 | 12/17 | Environmental Regulations, City Pollution and Health | 1. Greenstone and Hanna, 2014, AER (Link) | |
| 15 | 12/24 | Smart City Presentations | Final Project: Due 1/3 | |
| 16 | 12/31 | Smart City Presentations | ||