And yet despite this, we might argue that cities are becoming more and more similar in a wide variety of ways. Everywhere you look, the local coffee shop and bookstore have become Starbucks and Borders, corporate commodities designed to be pretty much the same no matter where you go. Every popular shopping mall is made up of some subset of the same 300 or so retail chains. The growth of the car culture and the nature of housing development has led to a suburban sprawl around many cities that is in some ways remarkable for its sameness. Inner-city poverty and violence is depressingly similar as well.

Format of the class

I have designed this class to be very strongly focused around small group work. The class is organized into a series of units, and we will break down into different small groups before beginning each unit. You will be able to express preferences regarding which unit you would like to do, but I cannot promise anything. You will work with your group throughout the course of the unit. At the end of each unit, groups will present what they found to be the most important insights they gained from their work in the preceding weeks. Not every group will be doing the same unit, so these presentations will be crucial to building the knowledge of your colleagues.

Simulation: SimCity

In addition to the unit groups, we will also separate into small groups to play the computer simulation game SimCity. I will ask each of you to keep a journal of both what you feel you have learned through playing the game and in what ways the game succeeds and fails in capturing something important about city planning and management.

Readings

The main readings for each unit are as follows. All books have been ordered and should be at the bookstore.

Unit 1A: Politics and Power: Institutions
Ross, Bernard H. and Myron A. Levine. 2001. Urban Politics: Power in Metropolitan America. Sixth edition. Itasca, IL: Peacock Publishers. Chapter 4.
Svara, James H. 1990. Official Leadership in the City: Patterns of Conflict and Cooperation. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chapters 4-6.
Royko, Mike. 1971. Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago. New York: E.P. Dutton. Chapters 1, 4.
Nelson, William E. Jr. 1990. "Black Mayoral Leadership: A Twenty-Year Perspective." National Political Science Review 2:188-195.

Unit 1B: Politics and Power: Private Interests, Public Decisions
Stone, Clarence N. 1989. "Urban Machines: A Research Perspective." In The Politics of Urban America: A Reader, edited by Dennis R. Judd and Paul Kantor. New York; Longman.
Ferman, Barbara. 1996. Challenging the Growth Machine: Neighborhood Politics in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.

Unit 2A: Urban Planning
Hall, Peter Geoffrey. 1996. Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century. Updated edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Unit 2B: The Suburbs
Jackson, Kenneth T.1985. Crabgrass Frontier : The Suburbanization of the United States. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Unit 3A: Race
Massey, Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton. 1994. American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Unit 3B: Class and Poverty
Kozol, Jonathan. 1995. Amazing Grace : The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation. New York: Harper Perennial.

Unit 4B: Space and Place
Davis, Mike. "Fortress Los Angeles: The Militarization of Urban Space." In Variations on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End of Public Space, ed. Michael Sorkin. New York: Noonday Press.
Stilgoe, John R. 1998. Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places. New York: Walker & Co.

Unit 4B: Cities in Global Context
Abu-Lughod, Janet L. 1999. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles: America's Global Cities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (Note for purchasing: Paperback edition is coming out in January 2002.)

Requirements

Points
You will accumulate points over the course of the semester. The grading scale is as follows:

You will be able to accumulate points through participation in group projects and doing individual assignments. When a group is awarded points, everyone in the group receives the same amount of points unless it is clear that someone is not pulling their weight. For each unit, I will give you a list of suggested assignments and a maximum point total which can be earned for each assignment. Some of the group assignments will be required.

Note that these are cumulative totals – if you only receive fair grades, but you do a large number of assignments, you can still receive an A in the course.

Requirements and limitations

1. Regardless of your point total, you will fail the course if you do not accumulate 20 points in any single unit.
2. You have one week after the completion of a unit to turn in all assignments specific to that unit. After that, it's too late (unless I give special permission well ahead of time).
3. Regardless of your point total, your final grade will be reduced by one entire letter grade if you do not turn in a book review that earns at least 5 points (total possible: 10).
4. Regardless of your point total, your final grade will be reduced by two entire letter grades if you do not earn at least 15 points for your SimCity simulation (total possible: 40).
5. Regardless of your point total, your final grade will be reduced by one letter grade if you miss more than one of the movie nights without an excuse accepted by me ahead of time.

Some standard individual assignments

Book Reviews. Each of you is required to write at least one book review of a book that you read outside of class. Book reviews should be no more than three double-spaced pages. These reviews will be placed on the class website at the end of each unit. You may write as many book reviews as you wish. You must let me know ahead of time when you are planning to review a book – no more than five people can review the same book. (10 points possible)

Decatur city events: Attend a local city council meeting, school board meeting, meeting on the near Northside development, or any other local event approved by your instructor. Write up your reactions in no more than two double-spaced pages. You may do no more than four of these. (5 points possible)

Some standard group assignments

Movie night: We will have a short discussion (30-40 minutes) following each film. A group of students will lead this discussion. They will prepare by watching the film beforehand and preparing a list of discussion ideas which they will go over with me ahead of time. (10 points possible.)

Group presentations: At the end of each unit, two unit groups will have an entire class session to present what they have learned to the rest of the class. Groups are encouraged to think of clever or unusual ways to present the material. (10 points possible.)

Create your own assignment
Groups and individuals are encourage to create your own assignment ideas and present them to me for approval. Assignment proposals must be typed up and must clearly state: (1) the nature of the assignment, (2) the proposed point total, (3) the date by which the assignment will be completed, and (4) at least some suggestions for how the assignment should be evaluated.

Course Outline: Reading assignments

Jan 16
     Intro
Jan 18
     Intro to SimCity
Jan 21
     Video

Jan 23
     A: Ross & Levine
     B: Stone; Ferman, ch. 1
Jan 25
     A: Nelson; Svara ch. 4,
     B: Ferman, ch. 2-3
Jan 28
     A: Svara, ch. 5
     B: Ferman, ch. 4-5
Jan 30
     A: Svara, ch. 6
     B: Ferman, ch. 6-7
Feb 1
     A: Royko
     B: Ferman, ch. 8
Feb 4
     Planning session
Feb 6
     Group A presentation
Feb 8
     Group B presentation

Feb. 11
     Movie Night: Roger & Me
Feb. 13
     A: Hall, ch. 1-2
     B: Jackson, Intro, ch. 1-2
Feb 15
     A: Hall, ch. 3-4
     B: Jackson, ch. 3-5
Feb 18
     A: Hall, ch. 5-6
     B: Jackson, ch. 6-8
Feb 20
     A: Hall, ch. 7-8
     B: Jackson, ch. 9-10
Feb 22
     A: Hall, ch. 9-10
     B: Jackson, ch. 11-12
Feb 25
     A: Hall, ch. 11-12
     B: Jackson, ch. 13-14
Feb 27
     A: Hall, ch. 13
     B: Jackson, 15-16
Mar 1
     Planning session
Mar 4
     Group A presentation
Mar 6
     Group B presentation
Mar 7 (THURSDAY)
     Movie Night: Avalon

Mar 11-15
     Spring Break!

Mar 18
     A: Massey & Denton, ch. 1-2
     B: Kozol, ch. 1
Mar 20
     A: Massey & Denton, ch. 3
     B: Kozol, ch. 2
Mar 22
     A: Massey & Denton, ch. 4
     B: Kozol, ch. 3
Mar 25
     A: Massey & Denton, ch. 5
     B: Kozol, ch. 4
Mar 27
     A: Massey & Denton, ch. 6
     B: Kozol, ch. 5
Mar 29-Apr 1
     Easter Break
Apr 3
     A: Massey & Denton, ch. 7
     B: Kozol, ch. 6
Apr 5
     A: Massey & Denton, ch. 8
     B: Kozol, Epilogue & In Memoriam
Apr 8
     Planning session
Apr 10
     Group A presentation
Apr 12
     Group B presentation
Apr 15
     Movie Night: Do The Right Thing

Apr 17
     A: Davis; Stilgoe, ch. 1
     B: Sassen, prefaces, ch. 1-2
Apr 19
     A: Stilgoe, ch. 2-3
     B: Sassen, ch. 3
Apr 22
     A: Stilgoe, ch. 4-5
     B: Sassen, ch. 4
Apr 24
     A: Stilgoe, ch. 6-7
     B: Sassen, ch. 5
Apr 26
     A: Stilgoe, ch. 8-9
     B: Sassen, ch. 6-7
Apr 29
     Planning session
May 1
     Group A presentation
May 2 (THURSDAY)
     Movie night: Bladerunner
May 6
     Group B presentation