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Hacking Cities - Upgrading Urban Life (ABPL20054)
Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5Not available in 2020
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
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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
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Assignment 1 (individual) / Research Report
| Day 5 | 30% |
Assignment 2 (group) / Hack Presentation, 500 words equivalent per student (group size 3-7)
| From Day 8 to Day 9 | 10% |
Assignment 3 (group) / Research Report, including Modelling Report - 1000 words equivalent per student (group size 3-7)
| First weekday after last lecture | 40% |
Assignment 4 (individual) / Hack Proposal
| Third or fourth weekday after the last lecture | 20% |
Last updated: 23 December 2023
Dates & times
Not available in 2020
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:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Bachelor of Biomedicine
- Bachelor of Commerce
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Animation)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Film and Television)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Music Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Screenwriting)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art)
- Bachelor of Science
- 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