GEOG210 – Urban Geography
This course is designed to help students extend their critical thinking, analytical and research skills and apply them to the study of urban regions in Canada and the world. Given that most students will be international students who arrive in Vancouver and experience primarily the environment of the lower mainland, this course is also a means to create an understanding of Canada’s transformation from a French/British colony to a vital, dynamic highly urbanized country.
The students will explore the growth and changes in Canadian cities over time and their place in the global context. Canada with its small population and huge geographic extent presents unique challenges to the growth of its urban regions.
The study of the transformation of Canadian cities can help students come to understand the wider issues that cities around the world face. Case studies will be examined in depth to gain further insight into the processes of growth and changes within an urban environment. In-class readings will further extend the knowledge about the growth of urban centers around the world.