KGTU 2505 - Urban planning and democracy

This master-level course offers a critical introduction to urbanism, considered both as a set of spatial practices and as a field of political negotiation.

Urbanism is not approached as a fixed discipline but as a dynamic arena of territorial governance, shaped by tensions between growth and preservation, local needs and global reforms, temporal mismatches, and future aspirations. The course explores the relationships between planning practices and democratic processes. It also aims to provide students with the theoretical foundations of modern urbanism by presenting its objectives, instruments, and technical, institutional, and political constraints.

Finally, it offers analytical tools to understand how urban policies are constructed, debated, and implemented in diverse institutional contexts. Through the study of concrete cases and participatory mechanisms, the course examines the tensions between expertise and deliberation, as well as between strategic planning and inclusive governance. The course focuses on contemporary challenges, including ecological and social transitions, new urban conflicts, digitization of participatory processes, and the renewal of planning practices.

This course examines the relationship between planning practices and democratic processes. It introduces students to the theoretical foundations of modern urbanism, outlining its objectives, tools, and the technical, institutional, and political constraints involved. It also provides analytical tools to understand how urban policies are designed, debated, and implemented within various institutional contexts.

Through case studies and participatory mechanisms, the course examines the tensions between expertise and deliberation, as well as between strategic planning and inclusive governance.

None. The course is open to all students interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the foundations of urbanism and the democratic challenges involved in city-making.

Aside from preparation for lectures, students can expect 4–6 hours of individual work each week towards a final report. An individual revision period is also required before the final assessment. Spring :

• Reading and preparation for class debates: approx. 2 hours per session
• Exercises: up to 1 hour per session
• Final project: approx. 10 hours

Learning Objectives • Comprehend the basics of modern urbanism and its underlying logics. • Grasp the main principles of urban governance and local democracy.

• Analyse mechanisms of citizen participation in planning processes.
• Identify conflicts, negotiations, and compromises in urban public action.
• Develop a critical understanding of planning instruments as tested through democratic debate.

• 10%: Class participation
• 90%: A critical “reading” exercise of a real or hypothetical case (literature, utopia) of democratic spatial organization: 3,000 words minimum (excluding appendices, references, diagrams, images).

Autumn :

Aside from preparation for lectures, students can expect 4–6 hours of individual work each week towards a final report. An individual revision period is also required before the final assessment.

Spring :

• Reading and preparation for class debates: approx. 2 hours per session
• Exercises: up to 1 hour per session
• Final project: approx. 10 hours