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Hacking Cities - Upgrading Urban Life (ABPL20054)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Winter Term
Email: fjalar.dehaan@unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability | Winter Term |
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Fees | Look up fees |
Many aspects of city life could be improved, but change seems hard. Some interventions are ineffective, others have unintended side effects. Cities rely on various systems such as transport, health care, energy, education etc. Many urban problems are not malfunctions of these systems but side effects of how they are designed. Hacking means using your knowledge of these system to set up a clever intervention – a hack. A good hack changes systems, contributes to transitions.
This is a highly interdisciplinary subject. You will learn concepts and methods from social science, evolutionary theory, analytic philosophy and other fields notably sustainability transitions research. No background or prior knowledge in any of these is required though and students from all disciplines are invited.
You will design a hack, i.e. an intervention to change systems based on analysis. The hack needs to address a real urban issue and it needs to be realistic in what it proposes to do. You will have to show that your hack has a chance of being successful using the concepts and methods from the lectures, complemented by your own research.
Intended learning outcomes
Students who successfully completed this subject will be able to:
- Explain why and how cities can be understood as complex systems;
- Use a theoretical framework to analyse systemic normative issues (e.g.\ liveability, sustainability, resilience);
- Analyse and conceptually model or map complex systems such as cities;
- Convey the consequences of complexity, non linearity and uncertainty in theoretical and practical terms;
- Articulate what transformative change entails, both conceptually and in the context of a real-world case;
- Work with some of the tools to deal with uncertainty such as scenarios and exploratory thinking;
- Describe and communicate interventions in complex systems to a general audience and policy makers.
Last updated: 23 December 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 23 December 2023
Assessment
Additional details
- Assignment 1 (individual) / Research Report – 1500 words, due Day 5, 30%
- Assignment 2 (group) / Hack Presentation – 10-20 min, 500 words equivalent per student (group size 3-7), due Day 8 or 9, 10% ;
- Assignment 3 (group) / Research Report, including Modelling Report – 1000 words equivalent per student (group size 3-7), due first weekday after last lecture, 40%;
- Assignment 4 (individual) / Hack Proposal – 1000 words equivalent (individual), due third or fourth weekday after the last lecture, 20%.
Last updated: 23 December 2023
Dates & times
- Winter Term
Principal coordinator Fjalar de Haan Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 40 contact hours over 10 days contact hours over 10 days (10 days of 2 hour lecture + 2 hour tutorial) Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 8 July 2019 to 19 July 2019 Last self-enrol date 10 July 2019 Census date 12 July 2019 Last date to withdraw without fail 20 July 2019 Assessment period ends 26 July 2019 Winter Term contact information
Email: fjalar.dehaan@unimelb.edu.au
Time commitment details
170 hours
Last updated: 23 December 2023
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Breadth options
This subject is available as breadth in the following courses:
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 23 December 2023