Corso di Laurea Magistrale Interateneo in Geografia e Scienze Territoriali (LM-80)

The management of urban transformations refers to problems which are characterized by various elements, by a plurality of actors with different and conflicting objectives and by a high degree of uncertainty. The course aims at offering the students  tools and methods that enable the comprehension of urban planning and management processes.

1) Knowledge and understanding.
The course will allow students to analyze territorial transformation interventions from the point of view of environmental, social and economic impacts;

2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding.
At the end of the course, students will be able to develop synthetic assessment frameworks to support decision-making processes in the context of projects / plans / programs.

3) Autonomy of judgment.
Students will be able to autonomously develop reflections on the sustainability of city and territory transformation interventions

4) Communication skills.
Students will learn how to set up sustainability assessments of urban and territorial transformations through the use of specific tools.

5) Learning skills.
During the course, students are required to develop self-learning skills through study activities and exercises

- Principles of urban economics and theory of sustainable development

- SWOT analysis and stakeholders analysis

- Basic elements of Project Management

- Discounted Cash Flow Anaysis and Cost Benefit Analysis

- Decision Support Systems and Multicriteria Analysis

- Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment

- Indicators and indexes systems for monitoring programmes

- Scenario analysis and mapping

- Econometric model for the estimation of the effects

An assignment will be developed in order to put in practice the issues  pertaining to the program of the course. The assignment is related to the application of an evaluation method for assessing the sustainability of a real-world urban project. The assignment  has to be submitted at the end of the course and it will be evaluated for the final examination.

The exam consists in an oral exam (70% of importance) and it will consider the mark of the assignment (30% of importance)

The notes of the lectures will be delivered by the teacher.
Further readings:

Bottero M., Mondini G. ( eds.) (2009), Valutazione e sostenibilità. Piani, programmi, progetti, Celid, Torino.