6 ECTS credits
180 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 4018481BNR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.
In this course students learn to understand, analyse and interpret the urban complexity of present cities (especially in Brussels), both in quantitative and qualitative-phenomenological ways. There is a major part on hybrid techniques for area-bound analysis and the so called register-approach, a reworked version of Lefebvre’s theory on spatiality. This topic is being taught on both a theoretical level (knowing that) and on the level of more hands-on skills (knowing how to do). In a second and minor part, students have the opportunity to get acquainted with the search for, the selection and visualisation of figures and maps illustrating the issues at stake in a given project-area. This minor part is also taught on the knowing–how level, but less extensive than in the register-approach.
The course contains three sections: a syllabus and two exercises.
#1. The syllabus discusses the theory of socio-spatial analysis of urban neighbourhoods and some core techniques to read and interpret these neighbourhoods. It elaborates on the register-approach both theoretically and on the level of professional practice and skills.
#2. A single qualitative fieldwork exercise that students have to perform in a Brussels neighbourhood, combining ethnographic methods with observational skills and the hands-on analysis of the built fabric of the city (knowing how);
#3. A quantitative exercise to be elaborated on the same neighbourhood as in #2, thereby selecting and visualising specific figures and maps that highlight the relevant characteristics of the area under study (knowing how – but less extensive).
The syllabus focuses on the dynamics between local experience and the logic of the local built form (and its impact on everyday life), the skills to understand and read these dynamics. This content is taught with some academic documentation (Lefebvre’s theory on the threefold production of space) but the main orientation is directed to (the development of) a professional practice and sensibility. How can spatial planners get a more accurate awareness of the so-called lived-space and why is it that this layer within the planned city remains so unruly and invisible? The two exercises are set up as hands-on elaborations of this main question.
Contact moments - There are 7 contact moments (4 hour classes), one of them being a fieldwork- and training- sessions in the district/area being studied that year. Students present their drafts on both the qualitative and quantitative exercise and get feedback during the penultimate class.
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Exam and scoring - The exam consist in a paper of minimum 10 tot maximum 14 pages, which is presented during a jury at the end of the semester. The individual paper discusses the highlights of the syllabus that can be applied to the studied area (8 points out of 20); it reports on the single qualitative exercise (8 points) and presents the figures and maps that are considered to be relevant for a deepened understanding of the area (4 points). The further content of the paper (and the timetable for the in-field training and the in-class feedbacksessions) will be communicated during the opening class.
The instructions for the jury-presentation can slightly differ from year to year, depending on the area under study and whether or not the project-area is shared with the one studied in the course MT: ruimtelijke en morfologische analyse.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Urban Design and Spatial Planning: Track 1 (Bachelor via SCH of VRB) (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Urban Design and Spatial Planning: Track 2 (Master indirect) (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Urban Design and Spatial Planning: Track 3 (Bachelor of Master direct) (only offered in Dutch)