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This module surveys the growing subfield of urban political ecology. In particular, it focuses on the material and social flows of ‘stuff’ that circulate to, through, and beyond the city. Water, sewage, electricity, garbage, plastic, carbon, and much more are all pumped, diverted, quarantined, cleansed, financed, regulated, produced, and consumed via cities. This ‘metabolism’ of material things produces varying qualities and outcomes of urban life. These flows and their outcomes are the course’s central focus, framing as urban metabolism the complex, uneven, and surprising journeys, infrastructures, transformations, politics, histories, labour, and expertise required for these flows. Drawing on a diverse set of academic, journalistic, video, textual, and audio course material, the module will trace the pathways of material things through cities and their hinterlands worldwide, unpacking how their flows are constructed and regulated, financed and managed, and contested and politicised.

The aims of the module are 1) to engage students in a theoretical, methodological, and empirical survey of the urban political ecology subfield and 2) to allow students to see these ideas in practices in cities around the world. After completing the course, students should 1) understand the several theoretical and methodological approaches used to study urban political ecology; 2) be able to independently analyse via learned research methods in class the discourses and flows of the divergent and uneven circulation of material things through cities; 3) think clearly about similarities and differences between and within cities in the Global North and Global South; and 4) understand and explain their own urban experience and the urban experiences of others using vocabulary and concepts of urban political ecology.

Students taking this module should develop the following transferable career skills: critical thinking, digital skills in website/blog content management, cultural awareness, team working, time management, qualitative research skills, awareness of sustainability issues.