CLCS 310T The Culture of Cities: Sustainability
Over 50% of the world’s population today is estimated to live in cities and this number is continuously rising. This puts tremendous pressure on city planners, developers, and governments to provide for their citizenry without putting undue stress on the environment, and without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs in turn. Culture of Cities: Sustainability will focus on four key components of what makes a city sustainable: its cultural heritage (the heritage city), the ethical values undergirding its governance (the just city), the integration of nature into the urban habitat (the green city), and patterns of food production and consumption (the food city). Students will study urban sustainability and urban systems from these perspectives in our classroom in Lugano before travelling to Zurich to see how a relatively small but prosperous city develops strategies toward a sustainable future.