| CODE | YTH5050 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Place, Space and Community Development | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Youth and Community Studies | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The concept of space and place is central to the understanding of modern communities and how they operate. The study-unit gives central importance to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and introduces students to computer-based tools that use spatial data to analyse social realties. This study-unit puts into focus community experiences and is intended to equip students with the ability to analyse how these are shaped by local neighbourhood environments. It aims to develop an understanding of the various physical, material and natural aspects of social environments that are considered instrumental for community development. The study-unit presents different contexts surrounding architectural structures and environments that protect, sustain and improve the wellbeing of communities. It examines the effectiveness of place-based interventions aimed towards community formation and capacity building. This study-unit adopts Gidden’s theory of structuration (Giddens, 1984) to explain how social structures are maintained and adapted through agency and social practices ordered across space and time. The social forces that bring together place, space and community development are based on the understanding of regular patterns in the dynamics of place, that over time, become part of the practical consciousness of social actors who engage in behaviours in spaces they occur in (Bottoms and Wiles, 2001: 19). Study-Unit Aims: The aim of this study-unit is to enable students to make use of GIS and understand the significance of spatial fields. Its scope is to provide critical engagement with a variety of perspectives on the functions of space in community building and social integration. It focuses on the diversity of villages/cities and the sense of community in neighbourhoods, suburbs and rural areas. Another important aim is to enable students understand how social, cultural, economic and political forces shape the built environment in ways that constrain/promote community development. It also seeks to foster an understanding of the impact of the natural environment on community development. This study-unit focuses on the representation, design, experience and interpretation of spaces by focusing on how the aesthetics, design, land use in diverse settings (rural/ urban; public/ private; interior/exterior) in local neighbourhood environments influence community development. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Critically analyse how different places and spaces influence the way social processes operate to form communities - Employ GIS as an analytical tool to investigate social connections that occur within and outside communities - Estimate the significance of spatial fields and their impact on community wellbeing - Apply theoretical perspectives to critique how people affect agency within their surrounding neighbourhood environment to actively participate in community life - Critically reflect on the interplay between built-up and natural spaces that occurs in processes that contribute towards community building - Examine how community experiences develop through dynamics that enable people to traverse across different geographical places and interact within particular spaces that are deemed significant to them 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Investigate how people and children in the community make use of and experience their built-up and natural neighbourhood environment across space and time and how this affects their wellbeing-related activities and exposures - Make use of GIS to map out, manage and analyse different types of data to understand patterns and trends associated with the ways that communities operate - Critically evaluate GIS spatial maps depicting places and space and the natural, physical and social domains - Explore the potential of community action by identifying and assessing place-based interventions for improving wellbeing as well as minimise inequalities across the political, religious, economic, familial, educational and technological domains that comprise communities - Evaluate the impact of risks on community wellbeing that arise from inequalities that occur through interventions made to the built and natural environment - Apply appropriate theoretical frameworks to community research and practice in relation to a range of determinants of community wellbeing - Critically evaluate and apply appropriate interpretation methodologies in understanding the natural, physical and social structures and how these impact community life. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Barton, H., Thompson, S., Burgess, S., & Grant, M. (eds) (2015). The Routledge Handbook of Planning for Health and Well-Being: Shaping a sustainable and healthy future. London: Routledge. Supplementary Readings: - Cassar, J. (2020). Becoming community - A posthuman perspective. Societas.Expert, (2), 12-13. Available at https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/78720/1/Becoming_community-a_posthuman_perspective_2020.pdf - Crooks, V. A., Andrews, G., & Pearce, H. (eds) (2018). Routledge Handbook of Health Geography. London: Routledge. - Counted, V. (2016). Making Sense of Place Attachment: Towards a Holistic Understanding of People-Place Relationships and Experiences. Environment, Space, Place, 8(1), 7-32. - Farmer, J., Kamstra, P., Brennan-Horley, C., De Cotta, T., Roy, M., Barraket, J., Munoz, S.A., & Kilpatrick, S., (2020). Using micro-geography to understand the realisation of wellbeing: A qualitative GIS study of three social enterprises. Health & Place, 62, 102293. - Giddens A.. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Cambridge: Polity Press. - Ingram, A., & Dodds, K. (2009). Spaces of Security and Insecurity: Geographies of the War on Terror. London: Routledge. - Robeyns, I. (2020). Wellbeing, place and technology. Wellbeing, Space and Society, 1, 100013. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Albert Bell Adam Gauci Maria Pisani Bernadine Satariano |
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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. |
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