Introduction    

Through a combination of lectures, tutorials and workshops, this module offers an introduction to the key economic concepts, theories and tools applied to problem diagnosis and policy making in urbanisation and development. Using case studies from across the world, including (among others) Brazil, China, India, Kenya, Lebanon, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US, the module provides an overview of the main processes that affect urban economic development, particularly from the perspective of multilateral organisations, cities and local governments, social movements, and civic society organisations. The module’s theoretical framework integrates Classical Economic Theory, Economic Geography, and Critical Urban Theory to offer a critical understanding of the impact of global development on patterns of urbanisation.  

 

Objective 

The aim of this module is to offer an introduction to the economic analysis of global trends concerning urbanisation and development. It introduces participants to the contemporary economic concepts, theories and tools that may be applied to the analysis and management of key urban economic sectors, examining both local and transnational forces that drive contemporary urbanization. 

 

In doing so, the module discusses key theoretical frameworks: classical economic theory, new economic geography, neoliberalism, critical urban theory, post-Fordism and knowledge economy, global commodity chains and world city networks, planetary gentrification, anti-austerity movements and neo-municipalism, platform capitalism and the digital economy, the right to the city and economic democracy. 

 

Content 

The module is divided into three parts and covers the following topics.  

 

Problems and Frameworks. 1) An introduction to urbanisation and development: defining urbanization and development, urban equality as a theoretical framework, globalization and capital accumulation in the long run. 2) Theories of global development: neoliberal governmentality (Washington Consensus and Geneva School), uneven development, accumulation by dispossession (Neo-Marxism and Lefebvrean theories), global urbanism, heterodox approaches, and global-urban processes. 

 

Sectoral Analyses and Regional Case Studies. 3) Agglomeration economies and global value chains: urban-land nexus, urbanisation, localisation and industrialisation economies, global value chains and global labour chains. 4) Migration and globalisation: rural-urban migration, migration theories and models, international migration and refugees. 5) Technologies in development: financial inclusion and fintech, rethinking smart cities and urban platforms. 6) The financialisation of housing: planetary gentrification, global finance and housing policies, mortgage systems and household debt. 7) Creative industries as drivers of development: culture and innovation in urban economic development, COVID-19 research case studies (‘Global night-time recovery plan’ and the GIZ project ‘CCIs as drivers of development’. 

 

Policy Challenges and Critical Analyses. 8) Urban commons and economic democracy: defining urban commons and economic democracy, the role of municipal governments in local economic development, the case for community wealth building, anchor institutions and procurement policies, municipalism and the problem of scale. 9) Global strategies for a new green deal: policy challenges towards a green new deal for cities. 

 

Learning outcomes 

 

On completion students will: 

Be able to understand and apply the key concepts of economic growth and development, urbanisation, agglomeration economies and diseconomies, the global economy and their relations. 
	Have been introduced to the contemporary contexts (both international, regional, and national) of urbanisation and development. 
	Have been introduced to principal types and issues of development intervention in the urban sector. 
	Have been introduced to the dynamic of the interaction between agglomeration economies, capital accumulation, economic growth, social justice and environmental sustainability and the global capitalism affecting urbanisation and development. 