The course will offer a historic morphological study of cities across history and geography. The course will primarily examine European and North American cities under the following headings: Ancient and Classic, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque, Modern (nineteenth and twentieth centuries), and Post-modern (twenty-first century). Cities of Asia, Africa, and Latin America will also be investigated where applicable to learn non-western urban traditions. Specific topics will include origins and evolution of urban form, theories about urban form, and reasons and factors behind specific physical structure of the city. The course will concentrate on (1) the transformation of the nineteenth-century city and its organization, (2) the development of the twentieth century industrial city, and (3) pluralistic forms of current twenty-first century post-industrial city. It analyzes current issues of city form in relation to placemaking, social structure, and physical design. Case studies of several cities will be presented as examples of the theories discussed in the class.
