Francesc Muñoz, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Global economy dynamics have heavily influenced regions and cities during last decades. A real process of spatial and social reconfiguration due to this new economic scenario has been taken place simultaneously in very different parts of the world. Internationalisation of both economic and political relationships have made evident the importance of processes taking place not at the local but at the regional or even global scale.

The course presents three basic approaches to the global phenomena: economic globalisation; urban globalisation; and cultural globalisation. Also, analysis of the world-wide market forces driving globalisation of activities and affecting both production and consumption are developed. Covers basic theories and evidence concerning present day processes of urban internationalization from the economic, territorial, and social perspectives considering how these processes are affecting development in both local and regional scales.

The concept of development is presented from four main perspectives: economic; urban; social; and environmental. The new situation created by global economic dynamics make clear the necessity for new organisational and administrative frameworks encouraging more efficient design and better coordination between development policies defined both at the local (urban) and regional (national or international) levels.

The explanation of these points goes hand in hand with evidences and examples comparing very different cities and regions such as London (Great Britain), Berlin (Germany), Bilbao (Spain), Palermo (Italy), Buenos Aires (Argentina), or Tirana (Albania).

Bibliography

1. Required readings (Priority given to materials written or available in english language)
- Castells, Manuel (1998) The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture , vol. I Cambridge: Blackwell.
- Clark, David (1996) Urban World/Global city. London: Routledge.
- Ezechieli, Carlo (1998) “Shifting boundaries: territories, networks and cities”. From NETCOM , vol. 12, nº 1/2/3 (35-50).
- Graham, Stephen; Marvin, Simon (1996) Telematics and the city. Electronic spaces, urban places. London: Routledge.
- Graham, Stephen (1998) “The end of geography or the explosion of place? Conceptualizing space, place and information technology”. From Progress in Human Geography , 22, 2, 165-185.
- Hall, Peter (1996, 3ª ed. 1984) The World Cities . London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
- King, Anthony (ed.1996) Re-presenting the City. Ethnicity, Capital and Culture in the 21st-Century Metropolis . Macmillan Press. London.
- Kitchin, Rob (1998) Cyberspace. The World in the Wires . Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
- Lehrer, Ute Angelika (1994) "Images of the periphery". From Environment and Planning D: Society and Space . vol.12 (187-205).
- Newman, Peter; Thornley, Andy (1996) Urban planning in Europe. International competition, national systems and plannning projects. Routledge. London.
- Philo, Chris; Kearns, Gerry (1993) "Culture, History, Capital: A Critical Introduction to the Selling of Places". From Kearns, Gerry; Philo, Chris.- Selling Places. The city as cultural capital, past and present (1-32). Oxford: Pergamon press.
- Ritzer, George (1996, 1a ed. 1993). The macdonalization of society . Pinge Forge press.
- Rogers, Richard (1999) Technological landscapes. Royal Colledge of Arts. London.
- Sandercock, Leonie (1998) Towards Cosmopolis. John Wiley & Sons.
- Sassen, Saskia (1991) The global city . N.J: Princeton Univ. Press.
- Sassen, Saskia (1994) Cities in a World Economy . Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.
- Soja, Edward (2000) Postmetropolis. Critical Studies of Cities and Regions . London: Blackwell.
- Sudjic, Deyan (1993) The 100 mile city. London: Flamingo.
- Urry, John (1995) Consuming Places . The International Library of Sociology. Routledge, London.
- Veltz, Pierre (1996) Mondialisation, villes et territoires. L'économie d'archipel. PUF, Paris.
- Virilio, Paul (1997) Cybermonde, la politique du pire . Les éditions Textuel.

2. Recommended readings
- Castells, Manuel (1989) The informational city . Blackwell, London.
- Dicken, Peter (1998) Global shift. Transforming the world economy . Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd (3er edition).
- Downey, John; Mcguigan, Jim (1999) Technocities. SAGE.
- Dubois-Taine, Genenviève; Chalas, Yves (1997) La ville émergente . Saint-Étienne:Éditions de l'Aube.
- Echevarría, Javier (1994) Telépolis . Anagrama, Barcelona.
- Garreau, Joel (1991) Edge city . N.Y: Doubleday.
- Graham, Stephen; Marvin, Simon (2001) Splintering Urbanism. Networked Infrastructures, Technological Mobilities and the Urban Condition. Routledge, London.
- Indovina, Francesco (1993) "Strategie e soggetti per la trasformazione urbana, anni '80". From Indovina, Francesco (ed.).- La città occasionale. Firenze, Napoli, Torino, Venezia . Franco Angeli. Milano.
- Muñoz, Francesc (2002) “The Multiplied city. Metropolis of territoriants”. From Musco, Francesco (ed.). City, Architecture, Landscape, (75-109). Venezia: Instituto Universitario di Arquitettura di Venezia (IUAV)-SdS.
- Muñoz, Francesc (2003) “LOCK LIVING: Urban Sprawl in Mediterranean Cities”. From Cities, International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning, volume 20, issue 6 (381-385) december.
- Nel.lo, Oriol (1998) “Spain”. From Van den Berg, Leo; Braun, Erik; Van der Meer, Jan Van (1998) National Urban Policies in the European Union. Responses to Urban Issues in the Fifteen Member States . European Institute for Comparative Urban Research (EURICUR), Erasmus University Rotterdam. Ashgate.
- Olalquiaga, Celeste (1991) Megalopolis. Contemporary Cultural Sensibilities . Monte Avila eds. Caracas.
- Räder, Marc (1999) Scanscape. A visual essay about a global phenomenon . Barcelona: Actar.
- Sassen, Saskia (1995) “On concentration and centrality in the global city”. From Paul L. Knox, Paul L. i Taylor, Peter (eds.) World Cities in a World-System . Cambridge University Press.
- Sassen, Saskia (1999 ) Globalization and its discontents: Essays on the New Mobility of People and Money . New York: New Press.
- Sassen, Saskia (ed. 2002) Global Networks, Linked Cities . New York: Routledge.
- Sassen, Saskia; Muñoz, Francesc (2003) “Arqueologías del espacio urbano. Un discurso hacia la arquitectura de la metrópolis”. From Memorial Ignasi de Solà-Morales . (145-155). Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (ETSAB). Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.
- Smart, Barry (1999) Resisting Macdonalization . SAGE.
- Zukin, Sharon (1998) Urban Lifestyles: Diversity and Standardisation in Spaces of Compsumtion . From Urban Studies, vol. 35, nº 5/6, may, 825-840.