Global cities

The course aims at providing students with a toolbox to master the key analytical building blocks of the concept of "global cities" and of the related theorization. Students will gain a thorough understanding of both the socio-economic and cultural aspects and impacts of the development of global cities, learning to put these transformations in historical and cross-continental perspectives.

By the end of the course, students will have acquired the capability to compare and contrast different theoretical positions, by presenting and critically discussing the arguments of the assigned readings and by engaging in an interactive environment. Furthermore, they will be stimulated to apply the analytical categories they will be taught about to actual urban contexts of their knowledge through fieldwork exercises, which will enable them to gain a hands-on and empirical understanding of the course contents.