SOCIAL JUSTICE AND THE URBAN LANDSCAPE

LANDARC 561

An application of landscape design principles and problem-solving methods to housing and urban issues with attention to physical site design, land-use controls, and the relationship between housing and associated land uses. The built environment is continuously changing through multiple land development-and redevelopment-decisions. Public policies on housing, transportation, mortgage financing, and taxation, in conjunction with changing demographics and lifestyle preferences, are just some of the factors that influence the evolving structure and function of the built environment. Landscape architects can play important roles--through design, civic engagement, and policy advocacy--in making our cities and suburbs healthier and more sustainable. Studio projects focus on the central city and/or suburbs.

LANDARC 260

A critical and historical analysis of our design of outdoor space.

LANDARC 590

Exploration of special issues or problems in landscape architecture.

ARTHIST/ENVIRST/GEOG/HISTORY/LANDARC 239

Traces the history and evolution of the American cultural landscape from precolonial times to present. Explores how class, ethnic, and racial inequality have shaped the appearance of the American landscape over time, and how that landscape in turn has affected relationships between people and groups through the present day. Examines extraordinary things (civic structures (like our State Capitol), National Parks, War Memorials) and more ordinary kinds of places (mining towns, cotton plantations, sites of recreation and leisure, and suburban tract housing) to stimulate critical thinking about how these places have served people and groups unequally and disproportionately over time and across space. Considers complex meanings of American spaces and places to different people and groups, stimulating empathy and encouraging participation in a multicultural society.

LANDARC 562

With a focus on public open spaces as shared social places, emphasizes the social dimensions and connectedness of urban design and open space systems through perspectives from allied disciplines, such as landscape architecture, architecture, urban planning, real estate development, urban ecology, civil engineering, and the visual arts. Integrates human activity requirements and experiences with physical (or built) and natural site features. Builds upon technical design skills developed in prior studio work, paying close attention to form-giving, place-making, and sustainability at the site and neighborhood scale.