MPlan Planning with Professional Placement / Course details

The course unit explores spatial policy and governance for cities and regions, focusing in particular on England. It looks at the rationale for organising policy and governance on a spatial basis. The course also considers the changing objectives or urban and regional policies, and some of the debates about the purpose of policy intervention. Using examples of specific policy initiatives, the course considers the impact and effectiveness of spatial policy and governance.

The aims of the course unit are to:

• provide an introductory overview of the evolution of policy and governance arrangements for cities and regions, with particular emphasis on experience in England;
• stimulate thinking about the formulation, implementation and resultant impacts of public policy initiatives targeted at cities or regions;
• begin to consider the role of political and institutional change in shaping the nature and form of urban and regional policies; and
• explore current issues surrounding contemporary policies which impinge upon cities and regions.

Students will be able to:

Week 1.              Lecture:              Introduction: the changing political-economic, social and demographic basis for spatial policy (Iain Deas)

Week 2.              Lecture:              The changing focus of urban policy in British cities

Week 3.              Walking tour:     Neighbourhood regeneration: Hulme (group 1)

Week 4.              Walking tour:     Neighbourhood regeneration: Hulme (group 2)

Week 5.              Workshop:         City centre housing: boom to bust and back?

              This workshop will complement the material covered in the class walking tour in week 3.

Week 7.              Lecture:              Revitalising post-industrial cities

Week 8.              Lecture:              Regions, city-regions, soft spaces

Week 9.              Workshop:         Delimiting regions for planning and economic development

Week 10.            Lecture:              Regional inequality and the levelling-up agenda

Week 11.            Lecture:              Development corridors and polycentric regions

Lectures = 7 x 2 hours (14 hours)

Core content is provided through seven lecture sessions which explore different themes on urban and regional policy. Learning is supported by additional e-learning material available through Blackboard including videos and virtual field visits.

Workshops – 2 x 2 hours (4 hours)

In addition to lectures, students engage in two interactive workshops that provide the opportunity to debate contested areas of policy. These sessions require students to engage in preliminary research to maximise the opportunity for informed debate.

Field Visit = 1 x 2 hour (2 hours)

A field visit allows students to engage directly with the content of the course and apply their knowledge in practice. An e-learning version of the field visit is made available on Blackboard to support student’s learning.

• Explain the principal social and economic challenges confronting cities and regions in England

• Identify key features and impacts of recent spatial policies for cities and regions in England

• Evaluate the relationship between policies for cities and regions and changing economic, social and political circumstances.

• Interpret and critique policy and other arguments made around cities and regions
• Recognise the gaps that can occur between policy design and implementation

• Develop written arguments in relation to urban and regional policy.
• Assess whether policymaking and policy implementation are inclusive or exclusive.

Essay Plan, 500 words

Essay, 2000 words (100% Weighting)

Edwards, C. and Imrie, R. (2015) The Short Guide to Urban Policy, Bristol: The Policy Press

Jones, P. and Evans, J. (2013) Urban Regeneration in the UK: Boom, Bust and Recovery, second edition, London: Sage

Roberts, P., Sykes, H. and Granger, R. (2017) Urban Regeneration, second edition, London: Sage

Tallon, A. (2020) Urban Regeneration in the UK, third edition, London: Routledge