Architectural Sciences

The course provides a framework for urban planning in its theoretical foundations and as an articulated corpus of approaches, tools, and practices, providing essential legislative references within a general framework. The roots of modern urban planning are presented in historical perspective, along with its principal modes of action over time. The history of urban planning is connected to the history of the city, showing reciprocal influences and impacts. The course introduces the main urban theories to help understand how the primary object of urban planning changes according to different interpretations; at the same time, urban themes are framed and linked to environmental, ecological, and landscape issues, which are essential for understanding the complex and systemic nature of the urban planning approach. The course touches upon the many different subjects involved in urban and territorial transformation: institutions, technicians and professionals, civil society, and individuals; it explores how growing social pluralism represents a challenge for urban planning, which must be able to direct and manage multiple instances and actions of even opposing nature, and how, for its legitimation, it must always be able to account for choices, justified in the name of public or collective interest. By the end of the course, students will have acquired operational and critical skills to address complex urban planning issues, aware of the system of rules and procedures to follow and reference, the current tools available, capable of identifying the most appropriate scale for specific problems, and also of reasoning at different scales. Some transversal competencies will also be enhanced, related to critical abilities and judgment on the effects of transformation choices, to the abilities to communicate what has been learned, and to the capacity to continue studying autonomously.