GSCI 355: Towards Green Cities: Local and Global Perspectives

This course is crosslisted with SOC 355 and ENV 355.

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

-Jane Jacobs, Death and Life of Great American Cities (1963)

Course Description

For the first time in history, the majority of the world’s people live in cities. Cities are major contributors to emissions and resource consumption but also centers of technological and socio-cultural innovation. Cities can be at the forefront of actions for sustainable development – working with nature instead of against it.
This class will review concepts of sustainable urbanism and the systems that comprise it: open space, mobility, food and water, energy and waste. Our main focus, which reflects its methodology, is based on two premises: (a) the role and importance of Place as an impediment or facilitator of urban sustainability and (b) the fundamental part played by citizens’ participation in the commitment to sustainable policies and practice. Through these perspectives, students will comprehend the principles informing sustainable urban planning and the socio-cultural, economic, and political challenges faced by its promoters. Our approach is both global and local – we will use Perugia as our case-context while considering broader issues and analyzing case-studies both in Europe and in the US, to compare approaches, goals, and policies.
The course will be carried out with the collaboration of the College of Agriculture of the University of Perugia (DSA3) and will also focus on the various roles played by the vegetation within the context of a densifying city.
Starting from the definition of the ecosystem services provided by “nature in the city,” the course will approach the ever-transforming context of Nature-Based Solutions as a framework of reference and as an opportunity to observe specific case studies, as well as to apply this approach to practical interventions in the city of Perugia.

The Orto Sole Environmental Restoration Project

Our main project site for this term will be with the urban community garden just a few minutes from Perugia’s main piazza, Orto Sole (the “Sun Garden”). In Orto Sole, students will propagate local plants from DSA3’s Seed Bank, and settle them on-site to reduce the risk of hydro geological instability. Students will have the chance to engage with local partners and apply what they have learned to a concrete project, to learn and practice strategies for transforming urban spaces into resilient places, while creating more friendly, sustainable, and inclusive communities and cities.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Appreciate and understand the relationships between people, places, values, and actions in building sustainability. Critically understand the principles informing sustainable urban planning and the socio-cultural, economic, and political challenges faced by its promoters. Compare urban systems all over the world through the analysis of case studies for their effectiveness in implementing policies, technologies, and organizational models that support urban sustainability;
2. Consolidate the understanding of the course activities and theory, and offer an opportunity to explore connections between in-class and experiential learning. Integrate experiential learning activities with classroom knowledge to communicate using systematic, public-facing, and ethical scholarship with twenty-first-century research and communication tools;
3. Understand and apply skills acquired in sustainable urban development approaches, nature-based solutions, and community participation methods. These include methods for interacting with neighborhood actors, local partners and other stakeholders, and basic design, construction, and process skills. Get to know well, and understand, Perugia’s historic neighborhoods in its urban context – its history, places, people and recent efforts in improving its livability;
4. Assess student’s knowledge and ability to identify key terms, concepts, and principles related to sustainability in urban environments and the analysis of case studies.