HIST5592 Patterns in Urban History and Development

Course Description and Aims

 

This module provides an introductory survey of the history of urban development from the ancient period to the end of the twentieth century. It focuses on the forces that have led to the development of cities in the past, and achieves this through the lens of a multi-disciplinary perspective and the utilisation of various methodologies. Such a standpoint is adopted in order to allow for the exploration of the impacts of matters like politics, economics, culture and identity, art and architecture, intellectual thought, law, transportation, and military technology upon urban society at different times in history, and to recognise how they influenced the design and shape of the built environment, and so city living. Central to the programme is the use of comparative analyses which assist in identifying and contrasting patterns of urban change. As such differences in urban design that became evident in the past will be made clear. Furthermore, such an approach helps illuminate and clarify the imprint upon urban space and the urban mind of agents affecting the urban development process, including visions and concepts (built and unbuilt) that have swayed social development. Importantly too in utilising this analytical perspective the students are granted opportunities to test hypotheses under the guidance of their teacher about the causes and effects of urban transition, in so doing helping explicitly comprehend the narrative of historical urban development in both factual and conceptual terms.

 

The course is designed with particular outcome-based learning objectives in mind:

 

1. To develop an understanding of the causes of urban development and the various agents that act upon cities (e.g. cultural, social, environmental, economic, legal, etc.) so as to expand already held knowledge about urban places across the world.
2. To recognise the relationship between the evolution of the design of urban settlements and the nature of societies;
3. To know how and why various contexts affect the shape and appearance of urban places within distinct historical periods;
4. To train to see and read urban places through the use of maps and various visual sources in order to recognise distinct architectural and urban design styles belonging to particular eras of the past;
5. To demonstrate historical knowledge via tutorial discussions/interaction;
6. To exhibit critical thinking and basic research skills through the writing of academic essays.

 

By achieving these objectives students shall collect grades that contribute towards their end of term score. For further details of the how the course grade is given please refer to the section ‘Grading’.

 

 

Course Structure

 

Teaching takes place within two complementary learning situations, these being:

 

1. Weekly lectures to be given by Prof. Morley. Lectures will be given via the use of PowerPoint, and where appropriate DVDs and other teaching resources shall be incorporated into the classes so as to make the classes as visually stimulating as possible. At the start of each lecture the academic objectives of the class will be outlined so that students will know the purpose of the lesson.
2. Tutorials. These shall be given regularly throughout the term in so doing presenting valuable opportunities to not only clarify knowledge collected from the lectures, but to furthermore discuss various matters about cities in history.

 

 

Lectures

 

The lectures are designed to not only be informative but to allow, where possible, for active student participation. What this means is that once inside the classroom students are not passive learners who merely sit and listen to the teacher talk. Instead lectures will include various exercises to engage students with the subject being presented to them. The goal of such a strategy is to promote learning motivation, to encourage debate, and the development of different thinking and analysis processes.

 

 

Tutorials

 

The tutorials, 4 in total – each 45 minutes in length, grant students the chance to discuss the topics introduced in the lectures, and opportunities to help sort out any problems in understanding that the students may have.

 

To prepare for the tutorials materials are placed onto Blackboard but during the term students might be asked to take responsibility for a small part of a tutorial. The purpose of this exercise is that it will give everyone the chance to grasp part of the course in greater depth, and so will help everyone better prepare for the written assignments. To provoke discourse outside the classroom, and so to ensure student involvement, active learning and where possible deeper learning and thinking, students will be asked to create their own threads within the course’s Facebook group on themes associated with each week’s lecture.

 

At the start of each tutorial a detailed answer sheet designed by Prof. Morley will be distributed. This will act as a reference point for the class discussions, and shall expand upon many themes raised initially in the lectures. It will also help with work for the assignments.

The Course

 

Core Texts and Journals

 

The key texts for course HIST5592 are:

 

Lewis Mumford, The City in History  UL HT111.M8/ARL HT111.M8

Shane Ewan, What is Urban History?  UL HT113.E94 2016

John Reader, Cities  UL HT111. R43 2004

 

However other texts of relevance to parts of the course are:

 

Edmund Bacon, The Design of Cities   NA9050.B22 1974

Peter Hall, Cities in Civilisation  HT 111. H345 1998

Paul Hohenberg and Lynn Hollen Lees, The Making of Urban Europe 1000-1994   UL HT131.H658 1995

Spiro Kostof, The City Shaped and The City Assembled   HT111.K63

A.E.J. Morris, History of Urban Form   ARL HT166.M59 1993

Donald Olsen, The City as a Work of Art   NA970.O47 1986

Jan de Vries, European Urbanization 1500-1800   UL HT131.D4

 

For primary sources relating to aspects of the course tied to modern cities (between about 1700 and 1900), please refer to http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/homepage.htm.

 

Students will be expected to make use of other materials listed within this document as the course unfolds to prepare for both classes and assignments. At the same time many journals will be of use to this preparation process. In particular publications such as Urban History, Social History, Town Planning Review, Planning Perspectives, Journal of Urban History, The Economic History Review, Journal of Urban History, and the Journal of Social Medicine will have relevance to particular lectures and assignment questions.

 

Week 1. Introduction Class: The First Cities (Tuesday, September 3^rd 2024)

 

Welcome!

 

In this opening session a synopsis of the course and the subject of Urban History shall be put forward.

 

The lecture will also discuss what the first cities were like. It will analyse how the first urban societies differed from rural societies. It will also introduce the physical expressions that new forms of urban-based social organisation took.

 

Keywords:    Tell           Stoa              Temenos         Harappa   Indus Valley

                    

References: L. Benevelo, The Origins of Modern Town Planning   CC Res/ARL NA9031.B36

Hegemann and E. Peets, The American Vitruvius CC Res/ARL NA9030.H4

F.R. Hiorns, Town Building in History   CC Res/ARL NA9090.H54 1958

Algaze, Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilisation UL HT114.A524 2008

Lloyd, The Making of English Towns: A Vista of 2000 Years CC Res ARL HT133.L56 1984

A.E.J. Morris, History of Urban Form   UL/ARL/CC Res HT166.M59 1993

Eliel Saarinen, The City: Its Growth, Its Decay, Its Future   ARL/CC Res NA9030.S2

Unwin, Town Planning in Practice CC Res/ARL NA9030.U6 1994

Fraser and A. Sutcliffe, The Pursuit of Urban History UL HT111.P87

 

 

Week 2. Greeks and Romans (Tuesday, September 10^th 2024)

 

What were Greek and Roman cities like? Did they share similar features? Did they contrast with each other in any ways? How did Greek and Roman cities express the concept of power – power of the people, religion, authority?

 

Keywords: Ur             Coliseum         Agora              Forum             Athens             Polis                                        Acropolis            Grid Plan         Miletus            Rome

 

Lecture DVD: “Engineering an Empire”

 

References: Sir Leonard Woolley, History Unearthed   ICS CC165.W6 1963

Mary Boatwright, Hadrian and Cities of the Roman Empire   ARL DG295.B63

O.F. Robinson, Ancient Rome: City Planning and Administration   UL/ARL HT169.R7 R63

John Stambaugh, The Ancient Roman City   UL HT114 .S7 1988

A.E.J. Morris, History of Urban Form   UL/ARL/CC Res HT166.M59 1993

Ada Gabucci, Ancient Rome: Art, Architecture & History   ARL N5760 .G3213 2002

N.F. Jones, Ancient Greece: State and Society   UL DF275.J66 1996

Ruth Whitehouse, The First Cities   UL DS71.W5

A Kaiser, Roman Urban Street Networks   ARL DG78.K34 2011

 

 

Week 3. The Medieval Era, Cathedrals and Urban Places (September 17^th 2024)

 

What were the main characteristics of Europe’s Medieval City? What architecture dominated towns and cities in Europe at that time? Why? Were all European Medieval Cities alike? What was housing like at that time? What were the main factors in controlling its form?

 

Lecture DVD: “Carcassone”

 

Keywords:       Gothic Cathedral        Organic Growth          Market Place   Burgage Plots

                        Mercantile                  City Wall                    Jutting             Borough

Key-places:     Chartres                      London                        Bruges             York               

 

References: David Nicholas, The Growth of the Medieval City   UL HT115 .N53 1997

Jeffrey Singman, Daily Life in Medieval Europe   UL D119 .S55 1999

Pirenne, A History of Europe UL D117.P52 1958

Pirenne, Medieval Cities UL JS61.P5 1969

Mark Girouard, Cities and People   UL/ARL HT111.G46

Dyer, Everyday Life in Medieval England UL DA185 .D94 2000

Bell, C., and Bell, R., City Fathers   ARL HT169.G7B4

Saalman, Medieval Cities UL/ARL HT115.S2 1968

P.G. Hall, Cities in Civilization   UL HT111 .H345 1998

 

 

Week 4. The Renaissance and Baroque City: Humanism to Autocracy (Tuesday, September 24^th 2024)

 

How did the Renaissance conceptualise the ideal city? What were the areas of Renaissance urban planning, its design components and aesthetic considerations? What cultural factors affected the Renaissance concept of planning? How did military developments affect urban design? What were the principles on which the 16^th century Popes, such as Pope Sixtus V, re-planned Rome, or aristocratic leaders redesigned their palaces? In what ways were their approaches innovative? Why do you think their ideas were copied and continued elsewhere in Europe during the next 300 years?

 

Lecture DVD: “Versailles”

 

Keywords:    Geometric perspective   Boulevard       Wren’s London Plan              Axial lines

Autocracy          Spatial enclosure (place)        Grand Manner

Key-places: Sforzinda           Florence          Versailles        London                     Rome

 

References: Jacob Burckhardt, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance   ARL NA1115.B813 1985

June Osborne, Urbino   UL Oversize/ARL DG975.U72 O83 2003

Denys Hays, From Roman Empire to Renaissance Europe   UL D118.H3

Gebelin, Versailles ARL DC801.V56 G42 1965

Zepnik, D. Favro and R. Ingersoll, Streets: Critical Perspectives ARL NA9053.S7S82 1994

Wittkower, Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750 ARL N6916.W5 1999

Nevola, Siena: Constructing the Renaissance City ARL NA1121.S54 N48 2007

 

 

Week 5. No Class! Public Holiday!

 

 

Week 6. The London Terraced House and Square (Tuesday, October 8^th 2024)

 

What were the main characteristics of the London terraced house? How were residential areas laid out from 1660 until the 19^th century? How did this form an Italianisation of London? Why do you think the form of terraced housing changed so little in over 200 years? What led to its abandonment? Were other British cities developed in the same way as London? Did the ideas practised in London also have an effect in the British Empire?

 

Lecture Video: “Murray House, Hong Kong: A History”

 

Keywords:    Terraced House              Geometry        Piazza    Italianising     

Inigo Jones                     Squares, Crescents, Circuses     John Nash

Speculative Development          Standardisation

Key-places: Bedford Square              Covent Garden   Bloomsbury Square

                     Belgrave Square            Russell Square            Regent Street                  Bath

Edinburgh New Town   Melbourne                  Hong Kong

 

References: Stefan Muthesius, The English Terraced House   ARL NA7328.M88 1982

James Ayres, Building the Georgian City   ARL NA966.A98 1998

John Summerson, Georgian London   ARL NA970.S95 1991

Andrew Byrne, Bedford Square   ARL NA970.B9 1990

Walter Ison, The Georgian Buildings of Bath   ARL NA971.B2I8 1980

Peter Borsay, The Image of Georgian Bath   ARL DA690.B3 B57 2000

W.A. Brogden, The Neo-Classical Town   ARL NA972.N46 1996

Cranfield, Georgian House Style ARL NA640.C73 1997

Downes, The Georgian Cities of Britain ARL NA966.D68 1979

A.J. Youngson, The Making of Classical Edinburgh   ARL NA9189.E3Y6 1988

Faulkner, T.E., ‘The Early Nineteenth Century Planning of Newcastle upon Tyne’, Planning Perspectives, vol. 5 (1990), pp.149-167

Barnes, H., Newcastle-on-Tyne, The Town Planning Review, vol. 10 (1923), p.1-10

 

 

Week 7. Coping with Change (i) Coketowns: Dirt, Disease, Death, Deprivation (Tuesday, October 15^th 2024)

 

Was Charles Dickens’ fictional industrial town Coketown true of living conditions in the early-1800s in Europe? What problems were industrial settlements experiencing regardless of their location (including ones in the US)? How were these towns contributing (or not) to national economic development? How did the rich and how did the poor live? What impact did people like Friedrich Engels, a first-hand observer of modern urbanisation, have? How did Britain control its environmental problems, and how did this affect its colonies?

 

Lecture DVD: “How We Built Britain”

 

Keywords:       Industrial Revolution              Urbanisation               ‘4 Ds’

                        Public Health              Slums              Paternalism                 Philanthropy

                        Back-to-Back Terraced House           Suburbs                       Public Health

                        Edwin Chadwick

Key places:     Glasgow                      Saltaire            Manchester                 Birmingham

                       

References:     A. Briggs, Victorian Cities   ARL HT133.B7 1993/CC Reserve HT133.B7 1968

G.E. Cherry, The Evolution of British Town Planning   UL/ARL HT169.G7C459

Hazel Conway, People’s Parks: The Design and Development of Victorian

Parks in Britain   ARL SB484.G7C59 1991

Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England   UL HD8389.E5

Metcalf, Victorian London ARL DA683 .M4 1972

Morley, ‘Chaos, Contagion, Chadwick and Social Justice’, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, vol. 80.2 (2007)

Morley, British Provincial Civic Design and the Building of Late-Victorian and Edwardian Cities, 1880-1914 ARL NA9050.5 .M67 2008

H.J. Dyos and M. Wolff, M., The Victorian City: Images and Reality. Past and Present and Number of People and The Victorian City: Shapes on the Ground   UL DA533.V5

J.M. Richards, ‘Sir Titus Salt or the Lord of Saltaire’, The Architectural Review, vol. 80 (1936)

R.K. Dewhirst, ‘Saltaire’, The Town Planning Review, vol. 31 (1960)

F.M.L. Thompson, The Rise of Suburbia and The Rise of Respectable Society   CC Reserve HT133.R57 1982

J.R. Kellett, ‘Impact of Railways’, in R.J. Morris and R. Rodger, The Victorian City   ARL HT133.V5 1993

M.J. Daunton, Housing the Workers   ARL/UL HD7287.95.H68

Hamlin, Public Health and Social Justice in the Age of Chadwick UL WA11.FA1 H28 1998

Dennis, English Industrial Cities of the 19th Century ARL HT133.D4 1986

Richard Rodger, Housing in Urban Britain, 1780-1914   ARL HD7333.A3 R625 1995

William Ashworth, The Genesis of Modern British Town Planning   ARL NA9185.A795

William Ashworth, ‘British Industrial Villages in the 19^th Century’, Economic History Review (1951)

 

 

Week 8. Coping with Change (ii) London and Paris in the mid-19^th Century (Tuesday, October 22^nd 2024)

 

What were the principle difference between the growth of Paris and London in the 19^th century? How do you explain these differences? Who were the main actors in the transformations that took place? Was Paris designed to be a work of art or did the urban renewal agenda incorporate other factors? Did Paris’ development affect London, and if so how and why?

 

Lecture Video: “Paris: The Imperial City”

 

Keywords:       Haussmann     John Nash       Social Control             James Pennethorne

                        Parks               Slums              Boulevards                  Governance

                        Imperialism    Aston Webb

 

References:     Howard Saalman, Haussman: Paris Transformed   ARL HT169.F72P367 1971

Anthony Sutcliffe, The Autumn of Central Paris   UL HT169.F72P368

Sutcliffe, Paris: An Architectural History ARL NA1050.S87 1993

Weeks, The Man Who Made Paris ARL HT178.F72 P343 1999

Thomas Hall, Planning Europe’s Capital Cities   ARL NA9183 .H27 1997

Shelley Rice, Parisian Views   ARL TR72.P37 R53 1997

Robert Herbert, Impressionism: Art, Leisure and Parisian Society   NA Oversize ND550.H47

Jacob Larwood, The Story of the London Parks   UC ASL DA689.P2 S3

Donald Olsen, The Growth of Victorian London   CC Reserve HT169.G72L6474

S.E. Rasmussen, London: The Unique City   ARL DA677.R273 1982

Sheppard, London: The Eternal Wen UL HC258.L6S5 1971

Roy Porter, London: A Social History   UL DA677.P67 1995

L.D. Schwarz, London In the Age of Industrialisation   ARL HB2676.L66S38 1992

 

 

Week 9. The City Beautiful: The North American City (Tuesday, October 29^th 2024)

 

How did the rapid urbanisation of the US from the late-1800s affect American thinking about the city? What is the relationship between architects and the American City by about 1900? What was the nature of the City Beautiful Movement? What impact did it have? Why did the City Beautiful, a strictly American concept, spread to places like Manila, Guangzhou and Nanjing? How did the City Beautiful cross cultural borders? Why did the City Beautiful Movement die?

 

Keywords:       World’s Fair, 1893      Chicago           Daniel Burnham            City Beautiful

                        Imperialism                Internationalisation                Modernity

 

References:     W.H. Wilson, The City Beautiful Movement   ARL HT164.U6W55 1989

Smith, The Plan of Chicago ARL NA737.B85 S65 2006

Sutcliffe, Towards the Planned City UL/CC Reserve HT166.S97

J.W. Cody, Building in China   ARL/UL NA737.M87 C63 2001

J.W. Cody, Exporting American Architecture 1870-2000   ARL NA712 .C629 2003

T.S. Hines, Burnham of Chicago: Architect and Planner   ARL NA737.B85 H56 1974

Baldwin Hess, ‘Transportation Beautiful’, Journal of Urban History, vol. 32, no. 4 (2006)

J.A. Peterson, The Birth of City Planning in the United States   ARL HT167.P47 2003

K.L. Kolson, Big Plans   ARL/UL HT153.K64 2001

Tehranian, Modernity, Space and Power ARL/UC ASL HT167.T44 1995

I.A. Steffensen-Bruce, Marble Palaces, Temples of Art   ARL NA6695.A74 1998

Morley, British Provincial Civic Design and the Building of Late-Victorian and Edwardian Cities, 1880-1914 ARL NA9050.5 .M67 2008

Morley, ‘The Cultural Expansion of America: Imperialism, Civic Design, and the Philippines in the Early 1900s’, European Journal of American Culture, vol. 29, no. 3 (2010)

 

 

Week 10. Architects and Utopia: New Directions to National Development (Tuesday, November 5^th 2024)

 

What was the distinctive contribution of Raymond Unwin, Tony Garnier, and Le Corbusier to urban development in the 20^th century? What were the similarities between the approaches the adopted? What were the differences? How effective do you think each was in establishing a new model of urban development? How optimistic were they? Why did idealistic European ideas have an influence in places like India by the 1950s? Do these ideas have any historical comparisons with ideal cities from the Renaissance?

 

Keywords:       Letchworth      Hampstead Garden Suburb     Cite Industrielle

Contemporary City of 3 Million People         Modernist Architecture

Green Belt      ‘Streets in the Sky’     Chandigarh

 

References:     D. Wiebenson, Tony Garnier  ARLNA9053.N4W54

Ebenezer Howard, Garden Cities of To-Morrow  ARLHT161.H6 1946

Robert Fishman, Urban Utopias in the 20^th Century CC Res HT161.F57 1982

Creese, The Search for Environment ARLHT161.C7 1992

Le Corbusier, The City of Tomorrow and its Planning ARLNA9030.J413 1947a

Patrick Abercrombie, ‘Modern Town Planning in England: A Comparative Review of the ‘Garden City’ Schemes in England’, The Town Planning Review, vol. 1 (1910), and ‘Modern Town Planning in England: A Comparative Review of the ‘Garden City’ Schemes in England, Part 2’, The Town Planning Review, vol. 1 (1910).

Ashworth, The Genesis of Modern British Town Planning ARLNA9185.A795

Sutcliffe, British Town Planning: The Formative Years ARLHT169.G7B7

Miller, Raymond Unwin: Garden Cities and Town Planning ARLNA997.U59M55

Miller, Letchworth: The First Garden City DA690.L557 M55 2002

S.V. Ward, The Garden City: Past, Present and Future UL/ARL NA9095.I46 2001

Shatkin, ‘Colonial Capital, Modernist Capital, Global Capital’, Pacific Affairs vol. 78, no. 4 (2005-6).

 

 

Week 11. Colonial and Post-Colonial Urban Statements: New Delhi and Canberra (Tuesday, November 12^th 2024)

 

How did the design and plan of environments such as New Delhi and Canberra express sentiments relating to colonialism? What forms did these environments have, and how did they use historicism to establish modern city environments? In the case of Canberra, how did politics affect the design of the city? Is Canberra today the product of urban planning or government attitudes? In what ways was the competition to design Canberra an international scandal, and how did this influence the selection of prize winners? Additionally, did the Indian wish to free itself from colonialism lead to new city types or a re-use of British ideas?

 

Lecture Video: “Sir Edwin Lutyens: Architect of the British Empire”

 

Keywords:       New Delhi                  Canberra                           Colonialism

Sir Edwin Lutyens      Walter Burley Griffin             Le Corbusier

Baroque                      City Beautiful                   Nation/Nationhood

 

References:     J. Reps, Canberra 1912   ARL HT178.A82 C36 1997

Mort, Old Canberra: A Sketchbook ARL NC371.M68 A4 1987

Volwahsen, Imperial Delhi: The British Capital of the Indian Empire ARL NA1508.N49 V65 2002

R.G. Irving, Indian Summer  ARL 997.L8 I7 1981

Wilhide, Edwin Lutyens: Designing in an English Tradition ARL 997.L8 W55 2000

Hussey, The Life of Sir Edwin Lutyens ARL NA997.L8 H87 1984

A Hopkins, Lutyens Abroad  ARL NA997.L8 L88 2002

Turnball and P.Y. Navaretti, The Griffins in Australia and India ARL NA737.G65 A4 1998

Prakash and V. Prakash, Chandigarh: The City Beautiful ARL NA1508. C44 P724 1999

Kalia, Chandigarh: The Making of an Indian City ARL H169.I5 K35 1999

Kalia, Chandigarh: In Search of an Identity ARL HT169.57.I42 C485 1987

I Morley, ‘Canberra’s Connections: Canberra’s Plan and Nationhood’, Fabrications: Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand 23.1(2013)

 

 

Week 12. City Faces (i). Identities and Nationalism: Antoni Gaudi and Barcelona (Tuesday, Tuesday, November 19^th 2024)

 

How and why did Barcelona develop in the way it did from the mid-1800s? What factors affected its development from the second half of the nineteenth century to the early-1900s? What role did Antoni Gaudi play in this process? And how did his identity as a Catalan affect his architectural work? How is Gaudi’s work now perceived given his image at the centre of Barcelona’s tourist industry, the local cultural renaissance, and the fall of Franco?

 

Lecture DVD: “Visions of Space – Antoni Gaudi: God’s Architect”

 

Keywords:       Catalonia, Spain          Ildefons Cerda            Antoni Gaudi                                                  Nationhood                 Sagrada Familia            Cultural Growth

                        Casa Batllo                Cultural Heritage        Tourism

 

References:     Arturo Soria y Puig, Cerda  UL HT131. C473 1999

Ignasi de Solà-Morales, Antoni Gaudi  ARL NA1313.G3 S6413 2003

James Johnson Sweeney, Antoni Gaudi  ARL NA1313.G3 S9 1970

Xavier Guell, Antoni Gaudi  ARL NA1313.G3G84

Roberto Pane, Antoni Gaudi  ARL NA1313.G3 P36 1964

Derek Avery, Antoni Gaudi  ARL NA1313.G3 A837 2004

Tim Marshall, Transforming Barcelona  ARL HT169.S72 B378 2004

Teresa-M Sala, Barcelona 1900  ARL NX562.B37 B35 2008

Malcolm Miles and Tim Hall, The City Cultures Reader  UL HT151 .C5822 2004

Borja de Riquer i Permanyer, Modernismo: Architecture and design

in Catalonia  ARL Oversize NX562.B37 M6313 2003

Yukio Futagawa, Gaudí  ARL NA1313.G3 A4 2003

Philippe Thiébaut, Gaudi: Builder of Visions  ARLNA1313.G3 T34 2002

Manuel Gausa and Marta Cervelló, Barcelona: A Guide to its Modern Architecture 1860-2002  ARL NA1311.B3 G387 2002

 

 

Week 13. City Faces (ii). Skyscrapers and their Meanings (Tuesday, Tuesday, November 26^th 2024)

 

What were the origins of high-rise construction? Where were the earliest examples of high-rise offices and housing to be found, and what form did they take? Why did high-rise housing come to be seen as an important means of dealing with housing provision after the Second World War? What led to its eventual abandonment in Britain but its continued use in other countries? What is the significance of high-rise construction today in Asia? Why are the largest buildings in the world found in countries like Taiwan, Malaysia and the UAE? What symbolic messages/readings lie within tall buildings and why do they have great meaning to particular societies as they evolve?

 

To supplement the lecture documentary work Prof. Morley has undertaken with The Discovery Channel and Voom! will be utilised.

 

Lecture DVD: “The Vertical City Series 2: Taipei 101 Tower”

 

Keywords:       Steel                            Concrete                           New York

Chicago                       William Le Baron Jenny       Technology                 Dubai                          Taipei 101                                    Petronas Towers

 

References:     Thomas Deckker, Modern Architecture Revisited   ARL HT166.M582 2000

G.H. Douglas, The Social History of the Very Tall Building in America   ARL NA6232.D68 1996

Turak, William Le Baron Jenney: A Pioneer of Modern Architecture ARL NA737.J46 T87 1986

R.M.Reynolds, How America Grew Up   ARL NA735.N5R49 1994

Binder, Tall Buildings of Asia and Australia ARL NA6234.A78 T35 2001

Huang Tsung-yi Michelle, Walking Between Slums and Skyscrapers   UL/UK HK Studies HT169.H6 H83 2004

K.W. Schmitt, Multi-Storey Housing   ARL NA7860.S33 1966

A.C. Bossom, Building to the Skies   ARL NA6230.B6 1934

L.J. Vale and S. Bass Warner, Imaging the City   ARL NA9095.I46 2001

 

 

Grading

 

Students shall be given a term grade based on:

 

1. Participatio– 30% of total term score. This grade is given in relation to

• Attendance of lectures and tutorials
• Participation (e.g. the asking of questions in classes, and engagement with online discussions on the HIST5592 Facebook group)
• Introductory composition (400-500 words) relating to your understanding of the video to be watched as preparation for tutorial 1.

2. Short paper (1500-2000 words) – 30% of term grade.

 

3. Take-home examination (2000-2500 words) – 40% of term grade.

 

However always remember: speak with Prof. Morley should you have any questions about how your term grade is composed, or how your work shall be graded. He is happy to assist you!

 

Please note:

(i) All assignments submitted will be returned in PDF format via email. All work to be returned includes the assignments plus a grade sheet designed by Prof. Morley that breaks down the score of your work. This informs you of not only your grade but exactly how you achieved it. Detailed comments about your work will be given by your Tutor.

(ii) Amended versions of any assignment cannot be submitted at a later date.

 

 

Assignment Assistance

 

Juggling the demands of an academic course with other requirements is never easy. Doing so in a language such as English, maybe a second or a third language, can often compound this situation. Frequently it can lead to much anxiety. Therefore, to provide as much assistance as possible Prof. Morley at the end of lectures shall provide time to speak one-to-one about anything to do with the course, e.g. assignments, and to answer any questions relating to matters raised by the lecture. Additionally, he will ask as assignment deadlines approach for assignment plans to be created so that they can be checked to ensure work is on ‘the right track’. Plus, as noted earlier, academic writing files to assist students about the writing process are provided on Blackboard, as are assignment planning documents. Prof. Morley, as a former language teacher who has worked in Spain, France and Taiwan, is happy though to discuss any aspect of the writing process with you if you require any other kind of help.

 

 

Assignment Preparation Sheets

 

As noted previously students will be asked during the term to formally submit written work. For HIST5592 students submit two essays: a short paper assignment, and the take-home examination. For each piece of work a list of questions shall be given many weeks ahead of the hand-in date along with guidelines for this particular written task. Students then answer one question from the list distributed by Prof. Morley.

 

As previously mentioned all students will have access to assignment planning documents immediately after the assignment question sheet is handed out. The planning sheets offer assistance in appreciating the true meaning of the question, the context of the subject involved, grasping which reading materials are most useful to composing the assignment, and the best way to then use source materials.

 

 

Veriguide

 

CUHK’s History Department uses an online system through which students submit their written work. As part of HIST5592 students will be asked to submit their assignments onto the Veriguide system. For more information on Veriguide please refer to the following website: https://academic.veriguide.org/academic/login_CUHK.jspx. However, in course HIST5592 the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not permitted; work submitted must be written in your own words with the use of evidence to support key points.

 

 

Tutorial Dates and Themes

 

As part of your undertaking of HIST5592 you are required to attend four tutorials. These shall take place immediately after the lecture. Each tutorial offers an opportunity to discuss, evaluate and note aspects of the urban past raised within the lectures so as to clarify and elucidate your knowledge of cities and their development. Where possible particular skill-building activities will be introduced. Provisionally, the following dates and topics are set for the tutorials:

 

1. Tuesday, September 17^th 2024 – Week 3;
2. Tuesday, October 15^th 2024– Week 7;
3. Tuesday, November 5^th 2024– Week 10;
4. Tuesday, November 26^th 2024– Week 13.

 

CUHK regulations permitting, in late-November a visit to the Sky 100 will be undertaken. The visit to the tallest building in Hong Kong will precede the final lecture of HIST5592.

Potential Problems

 

Being a student, especially if you’re married, have children and a job, for example, is obviously not easy. Juggling a professional and home life with the demands of a university course can be troublesome at times. Consequently, some simple behavioural patterns are advisable. By way of example, be thoroughly organised from the start of the term. Note down the deadlines of any work to be handed in or the dates of any presentations to be given as well as the dates of tutorials you are expected to attend. Moreover, given the demands of work and home problems sometimes can occur. If difficulties do arise that will impact upon your studies the please contact your Prof. Morley immediately. He will endeavour to help you as much as is possible so please do not hesitate to speak with him should you need help. Importantly, when problems do arise please do not wait. Problems when they initially occur can be managed far more easily than ones left to develop for a while.

 

To ensure that the students’ learning process is as smooth as can be Prof. Morley will distribute handouts at each lecture. Should you miss a class then all these materials can be accessed online, as can a video-voice recording of the lecture. In addition to support your learning outside of the classroom Prof. Morley has created learning materials related to the lectures which allows for a structured learning environment beyond the lecture hall, and to help buttress all students’ scholarly needs.

 

 

e-Learning

 

To supplement the students’ learning all course materials shall be available online through a developed version of CUHK’s Blackboard system. To access these materials registered students input their CUHK student number and password, and if they so wish, they can download materials. Materials accessible to students include chapters from books, journal papers, photos, virtual reality animation, interactive panoramas of urban environments, maps, internet links, lecture PowerPoints used by Prof. Morley, and voice recordings of the lectures. The use of online resources ensures that if for any reason a student is unable to attend a class due to illness, a business trip or other commitments that individual can still access all materials given out in the lecture, and shall not fall behind in the course. Furthermore, texts pertinent to assignment questions can be uploaded by Prof. Morley if there are problems obtaining books or papers from the library. However, to support student learning outside of the classroom, and to offer a structured environment beyond the lecture hall, HIST5592 uses a variety of interactive online instructional methods that include:

 

• An online forum/use of Facebook. This allows, for instance, Prof. Morley to follow-up on matters discussed in the lectures but it also allows students to exchange their thoughts and experiences of living in or visiting cities. The online forum has three objectives. Firstly, to provide a communicative tool where everyone can collectively learn from each other rather than from just the traditional teacher-centred learning situation. Secondly, to build from knowledge acquired in the lecture hall. For example, by Professor Morley posting online questions it allows for the exercising of discussion, in turn extending student learning beyond the foundation of the lecture. Thirdly, it respects the fact that all students already have knowledge about cities and history, and can develop their own understanding of urban history in light of their existing know-how and experiences of the real world.
• Short documentary and virtual reality videos. These help train the eye to see cities in a more detailed way, in so doing allowing students to have a greater awareness of the urban environment in which they live or visit when on vacation or business trips.
• Assignment planning sheets to guide students through the thought and analysis processes pertinent to composing written work on the urban past.

 

Accordingly, with the lecture, tutorials and online learning support mechanisms a coherent scholarly environment is provided for, one that has a purposeful architecture to provide for the extension of wisdom both inside and outside the classroom.

 

 

Internet Links

 

For each class a list of useful internet sources will be given. This is to not only allow for an additional source of information, and one of a visual nature, but to allow those students who register for the course and with limited abilities to visit CUHK’s libraries to still have access to materials pertinent to the course as it unfolds each week. Internet links will be available to registered students via the course’s Facebook group.

 

 

Course Portfolio

 

All registered students for HIST5592 will be able to access on Blackboard a portfolio designed by Prof. Morley. The portfolio shall contain:

 

•  Contact details of Professor Ian Morley.
•  A course calendar that includes dates of tutorials and fieldtrips, deadlines for assignments, a copy of the course book with links to library books, etc.
• Files relating to the process of writing assignments so as to grant assistance to any student who has not written an assignment in an academic format in English for a while.
•  An encyclopaedia relating to urban historical study.

Ground Rules and Academic Honesty

 

It is important that students registering for HIST5592 attend classes and arrive prepared. This includes endeavouring to turn up on time, having paper on which to record lecture notes, listening attentively to the teacher and, where possible, joining in any teacher-led discussions. To assist students with lectures, tutorials and assignment preparation, edited lecture notes based on the lecture PowerPoint will be handed out at the start of each lecture session, as will copies of key texts or lecture worksheets designed by Prof. Morley. But in order for all classroom situations to work effectively certain rules need to be established. Regulations relating to the classroom teaching of HIST5592 include:

 

• Reasonable behaviour during lectures and tutorials. You will be asked to leave should you act inappropriately.
• Do not talk when the Lecturer/Tutor is teaching. The Lecturer/Tutor will not continue during a disruption.
• Having an awareness of CUHK safety regulations within the university environment.
• Having self awareness that ultimately each student is responsible for their own learning.
• Arrive on time, or as near as is possible, to any lecturers and tutorials to be given.
• Turn mobile phones off once in the classroom. However, if you anticipate an important call please inform your Lecturer/Tutor in advance.
• Try to attend as many lecturers and tutorials as is possible, and take appropriate notes.
• Read recommended texts and other materials to boost your understanding of the subjects being taught, and to help in composing assignments.
• Plagiarism shall not be tolerated under any circumstances. The Chinese University of Hong Kong puts great emphasis on academic honesty. Consequently all students are advised to refer to the following website with regards to university regulations about cheating and plagiarism (copying):

http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty. AI is not permitted.

 

 

Attention is drawn to University policy and regulations on honesty in academic work, and to the disciplinary guidelines and procedures applicable to breaches of such policy and regulations. Details may be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/.

With each assignment, students will be required to submit a signed declaration that they are aware of these policies, regulations, guidelines and procedures.

• In the case of group projects, all members of the group should be asked to sign the declaration, each of whom is responsible and liable to disciplinary actions, irrespective of whether he/she has signed the declaration and whether he/she has contributed, directly or indirectly, to the problematic contents.
• For assignments in the form of a computer-generated document that is principally text-based and submitted via VeriGuide, the statement, in the form of a receipt, will be issued by the system upon students’ uploading of the soft copy of the assignment.

Assignments without the properly signed declaration will not be graded by teachers.

Only the final version of the assignment should be submitted via VeriGuide.

The submission of a piece of work, or a part of a piece of work, for more than one purpose (e.g. to satisfy the requirements in two different courses) without declaration to this effect shall be regarded as having committed undeclared multiple submissions. It is common and acceptable to reuse a turn of phrase or a sentence or two from one’s own work; but wholesale reuse is problematic. In any case, agreement from the course teacher(s) concerned should be obtained prior to the submission of the piece of work.