Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE SPI4001

 
TITLE Orientation

 
UM LEVEL 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course

 
MQF LEVEL 6

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT Spatial Planning and Infrastructure

 
DESCRIPTION The students will be introduced to the disciplines, which are, in one way or another, connected with spatial planning, and to which they would not have been exposed in their undergraduate studies. The unit is made up of six sub-units as follows:

Block A
- Economics
- Politics/Public Policy
- Social Space

Block B
- Environmental Chemistry
- Ecology/Earth Science
- Physics of Energy

Students with backgrounds in the natural sciences or engineering would be expected to follow the sub-units in Block A, and the ones from the social sciences would be expected to follow the sub-units in Block B. Certain students may be required to follow sub-units from the two blocks. Each student will follow a minimum of three sub-units.

The sub-units to be followed by each student will be determined by the Board of Studies after the students’ transcripts are examined.

Study-unit Aims

To expose the students to the interdisciplinary nature of spatial planning practice, and to the importance that should be attached to holistic approaches to the formulation, realization, and review of spatial plans and policies.

This study-unit will be the first step in the process of preparing the students to coordinate and/or lead multidisciplinary teams formed to investigate specific problems and issues and to prescribe and implement plans, policies, and programmes designed to address the problems and issues in question.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to identify the contributions that different disciplines have the potential to make to the analysis of problems and issues that are normally addressed through spatial planning processes.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to formulate basic assessments of specific issues or problems connected with spatial planning, with reference to the knowledge and analytical capabilities acquired through their previous (i.e. pre MSP-course) studies and work experience, and the ones to which they would have been introduced during the study-unit.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions in Globalization. Minneapolis & London: University of Minnesota Press.
Augé, M. (2008). Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity. London: Verso Books.
Begon, M., Townsend, C. R., & Harper, J. L. (2006). Ecology: From Individuals to Ecosystems (Fourth ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Bertram, C. (2008). Imagining the Turkish House: Collective Visions of Home. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Boeker, E., & van Grondelle, R. (2011). Environmental Physics: Sustainable Energy and Climate Change (Third ed.). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
Cairney, P. (2012). Understanding Public Policy: Theories and Issues. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Davoudi, S. & Strange, I. (Eds.). (2008). Conceptions of Space and Place in Strategic Spatial Planning. Abingdon: Routledge.
Forinash, K. (2010). Foundations of Environmental Physics: Understanding Energy Use and Human Impacts. Washington, DC: Island Press.
Gillespie, A. (2011). Foundations of Economics (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hackett, S. C. (2011). Environmental and Natural Resources Economics: Theory, Policy and the Sustainable Society (Fourth ed.). Armonk, NY: M E Sharpe.
Hague, R., & Harrop, M. (2010). Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction (8th ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Harrison, R. M. (Ed.). (2006). An Introduction to Pollution Science. Cambridge: RSC Publishing.
Harrison, R. M. (Ed.). (2007). Principles of Environmental Chemistry. Cambridge: RSC Publishing.
Harvey, J., & Jowsey, H. (2007). Modern Economics: An Introduction (Eighth ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Healey, P. (2010). Making Better Places: The Planning Project in the Twenty-First Century. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Limited.
Hubbard, P., & Kitchin, R. (Eds.). (2011). Key Thinkers on Space and Place (Second ed.). London: Sage Publications Limited.
Keller, E. A. (2012). Introduction to Environmental Geology (Fifth ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Le Gates, R. T., & Stout, F. (Eds.). (2011). The City Reader (Fifth ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.
Lin, J., & Mele, C. (Eds.). (2012). The Urban Sociology Reader (Second ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.
Manahan, S. E. (2009). Fundamentals of Environmental Chemistry (Third ed.). Boca Raton, FL: C R C Press.
Moran, M., Rein, M., & Goodwin, R. E. (Eds.). (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Primack, R. B. (2012). A Primer of Conservation Biology (Fifth ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Independent Study

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment Yes 50%
Presentation Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit