Key facts
UNE unit code: SOCY500
*You are viewing the 2025 version of this unit which may be subject to change in future.
- Not offered in 2025
- Yes
- No
- No
- 6
Unit information
The city has been a central theme in sociology since the inception of the discipline. More recently, 'urban studies' has emerged as an area of interdisciplinary investigation across sociology, political science, social geography and political economy.
In this unit you will examine major perspectives in the analysis of urban life from early classics — Weber, Simmel, and the Chicago School — to key contemporary debates. Questions discussed include: What is the city and what is its relationship to the rural? How have cities contributed to democracy and to the market economy? How do cities reflect and generate wider social transformations?
You will examine urban social divisions, gentrification, urban crime, urban social movements and urban governance.
Intensive schools
There are no intensive schools required for this unit.
Enrolment rules
Notes
Please refer to the student handbook for current details on this unit.
Unit coordinator(s)
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
- apply coherent theoretical and deep knowledge of urban sociology and the current issues and debates within urban studies;
- critically analyse and interpret the often complex urban social processes and problems, and demonstrate a critical understanding of their wider social, economic and political causes and effects;
- independently examine the formation and nature of the modern city using a broad range of examples and perspectives from a range of theoretical perspectives; and
- critically formulate cogent discussion points and arguments, and to communicate this coherently to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Assessment information
Assessments are subject to change up to 8 weeks prior to the start of the teaching period in which you are undertaking the unit.
Title | Must Complete | Weight | Offerings | Assessment Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Essay | Yes | 45% | All offerings | No. Words: 4000 |
Quiz | Yes | 10% | All offerings | No. Words: 500 |
Take Home Exam | Yes | 45% | All offerings | No. Words: 2000 |
Learning resources
Textbooks are subject to change up to 8 weeks prior to the start of the teaching period in which you are undertaking the unit.
Note: Students are expected to purchase prescribed material. Please note that textbook requirements may vary from one teaching period to the next.
The City Reader
ISBN: 9780367204792
LeGates, R.T. and Stout, F., Routledge 7th ed. 2020
Text refers to: All offerings
Note: Recommended material is held in the University Library — purchase is optional.
Urban Theory: A Critical Introduction to Power, Cities and Urbanism in the 21st Century
ISBN: 9781446294529
Harding, A. and Blokland, T., Sage 1st ed. 2014
Text refers to: All offerings
Cities By Design: Social Life of Urban Form
ISBN: 9780745648989
Tonkiss, F., Polity 1st ed. 2013
Text refers to: All offerings
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