USP400 – Dynamics of the American City
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What is a city and what form does it take? How have cities changed and what forces have influenced that change? Who are cities for? This course answers these questions in the context of the American urban experience. We will examine, among other things, the evolution of the built environment and how changes in it affect people; the role of transportation, economic restructuring, politics, and planning in urban change; suburbanization and sprawl;inner-city gentrification; and issues of class, race, and gender. In the process, we will see how urbanists in a variety of disciplines - including geography, planning, sociology, history, and political science, have contributed to and advanced our understanding of cities. Historic and contemporary San Francisco will provide us with case studies and examples.
Contact: mjrubin@sfsu.edu