Urban Environment

Code:

GEOGR004

Acronym:

AURB

Instance: 2011/2012 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Geography
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Geography

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
GEOGR	37	Study Plan (2008/2009 - 2011/2012)	3	-	6	4

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

In conjunction with other 5th semester subjects of the Bachelor’s degree in Geography, the objective of the subject Urban Environment is to impart knowledge in a theoretical and practical domain in several areas from the application of geographical knowledge to the promotion of sustainability in urbanised areas.
The students, after recalling the vocabulary and language already acquired in other subjects and after:

i) clarifying knowledge of specific entities, symbols and methods;
ii) improving their understanding of basic theoretical grounds and principles;
iii) improving their capacity for statistical, documental and bibliographical information analysis;
iv) practicing the application and use of concepts, principles and methods acquired in new situations;
v) exercising their ability to summarise already acquired information in an articulate, single and coherent text;
vi) testing their ability to assess the suitability of an idea, of a concept, of a theory or of a method, for the solution of a concrete problem;

will be ready to assess and make proposals (individually or in group) in the domain of promotion of sustainability in urbanised areas.

Program

1. The concept of sustainability
2. Environmental issues in the process of urbanisation
2. Urban metabolism – collision between quality of life/well-being expectations and urban sustainability
3. Negative impacts generated by the intensification of the urbanisation process
3.1. on the climate
3.2. on the soil
3.3. on the hydrological cycle
3.4. on biogeography
3.5. on health
3.6. on equity and social justice
4. Principles and strategies for the promotion of sustainability in urban environments
4.1. The urban form as an element of sustainability
4.2 Accessibilities and sustainable transport
4.3. The urban green structure as a factor of promotion of sustainability
4.4. Environmentally integrated architecture and construction
4.5. Energy efficiency
4.6. Efficiency in management of water resources
4.7 Sustainable management of waste

Mandatory literature

Douglas, Ian; The urban Environment, Edward Arnold, 1983
Benton-Short, L., Short, J.; Cities and Nature, Routledge, 2007
Hough, M. ; Naturaleza e ciudad: planificación urbana y processos ecológicos, Gustavo Gili, 1998
Jenks, M., Jones, C. (Ed.); Dimensions of the Sustainable City, Springer, 2010
Wheeler, S.; Beatley; T.; The sustainable Urban Development Reader, Routledge, 2004
Williams, K., Burton, E.; Jenks, M.; Achieving Sustainable Urban Form, Spon Press, 2000

Teaching methods and learning activities

The student is expected to:
i) be motivated to write an individual and accurate project;
ii) acquire methodological competencies (know how to manage and organise time, learn how to face and solve a problem, etc.);
iii) be comfortable in instrumental and methodological procedures (be able to choose the main bibliography and statistics and to choose the most suitable methodological procedures in solving the problem);
iv) have the opportunity to be autonomous in individual and collective work;
Therefore, it is crucial that the student will have free time to accomplish all of these steps, with our supervision, of the research process

keywords

Social sciences > Geography

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	56,00
Pratical Works	Participação presencial	28,00		2012-02-15
	Total:	-	0,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Description	Type	Time (hours)	End date
Study	Estudo autónomo	78	2012-02-15
	Total:	78,00

Eligibility for exams

The assessment criteria in this subject are the following:
i) regular attendance (attendance of 75% of classes is mandatory)
ii) participation in classes
iii) global quality of written performance
iv) global quality of oral performance
v) creativity and ability in individual initiative
vi) progress in individual scientific valorisation
vii) written test
viii) written review
ix) quality of the oral presentation about a thematic sub-domain
x) research work (progress plan and report)
xi) research work (final report)
xii) research work (presentation and discussion)

Calculation formula of final grade

The assessment criteria in this subject are the following:
i) regular attendance (attendance 75% of classes is mandatory) – 2%
ii) participation in classes – 2%
iii) global quality of written performance – 2%
iv) global quality of oral performance – 2%
v) creativity and ability in individual initiative – 2%
vi) progress in individual scientific valorisation – 5%
vii) written test – 20%
viii) written review – 10%
ix) quality of the oral presentation about a thematic sub-domain – 20%
x) research work (progress plan and report) – 5%
xi) research work (final report) – 25%
xii) research work (presentation and discussion) – 5%

Examinations or Special Assignments

N/A

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

The assessment criteria in special assessment (e.g. working students) will be:
i) written test - 20%
ii) written review - 10%
iii) summary report of a thematic sub-domain - 20%
iv) work plan of the research project - 10%
v) final report of the research project - 30%
vi) presentation and oral discussion of the research project - 10%

Classification improvement

N/A