SHORT ANSWERS (4 @ 10 points = 40%) Pick four out of ten questions listed below. For each question be sure to include reference to at least two required readings in USP2. See instructions at the end of this study guide spelling out how we want you to handle references in the body of your short answers and as a bibliographic entry at the tail end of your short answer. Your reference to the reading should say something about this author’s or organizations contribution to the subject matter posed in question (i.e., weave it into your brief narrative). Each short answer should be approximately 350-500 words, not including the bibliography.
1.No matter what political perspective colors one’s analysis, planetary urbanization taking place in the 21st century can be viewed as having five fundamental features (as spelled out in USP2 lectures). Briefly list each one with an example noting how it impacts cities in some way that you find particularly hopeful or disturbing.
2.List and describe one of the global megatrends that is driving urban-ecological localization (e.g., local greening of the economy, local sourcing of food-energy water systems, greening of infrastructure thru restorative closed-loop development). In your description of the global megatrend be sure to give a sense of its magnitude and ways in which it has begun to drive localization.
3.As discussed in USP2 lectures and readings, what point does the shift [From D–>E, to E–>D] mean? How has this shift in the way we think about development and the environment influenced urban and regional planning? Give an example.
4.On average over the past decade, cities in the less developed regions have been at higher risk of exposure to natural disasters and more vulnerable to disaster-related economic losses and mortality than those in the more developed regions. Briefly explain why this is the case with an example.
5.David Wallace-Wells’s article, The Uninhabitable Earth, describes several ways in which climate change threatens humanity. Describe one of them and suggest, based on readings in USP 2 what we might be able to do to reduce this existential threat.
6.Considering what youve learned about informal settlements on the outskirts of Mexico City, explain how these informal settlements blur the urban-rural distinction. Is there something about informal settlement processes in developing countries that may be useful in more developed countries?
7.Suggest ways in which we can improve community-university relationships, especially with respect to democratizing science and technology, for instance how S&T priorities are set, how S&T gets developed, used and/or evaluated.
8.Globally, urban spread (the urban footprint) on the face of the planet is increasing faster than population. Why does this matter and what can be done about it?
9.In Pezzoli, K. and A. Leiter Robert (2016). “Creating healthy and just bioregions. The authors spell out an Integrated Planning Framework to deal with the arguments made by Sennett et al (2018) calling for planning and design to operate at both metropolitan and neighborhood scale (section 2.4). How so, explain the Integrated Planning Framework, including the idea of green regionalism.
10.Consider what you have learned about the Colonia Ecolgica Productiva of Ajusco in Mexico City. Describe the Colonia Ecolgica Productiva using at least three key terms from the course. What lessons can be drawn from this experience in terms of the challenges and possibilities for a new kind of urban development?
