Overview

We live in an urban age, in which for the first time in history, over half of the world’s population live in cities. We also inhabit the Anthropocene, in which humanity is radically reshaping the planet. These twin processes – urbanization and environmental transformation – are closely related to each other. Together, they define our epoch as the Urban Anthropocene. In this module you will develop a complex and holistic understanding of the forces defining this epoch. You will be introduced to a range of conceptual approaches drawn from the cutting edges of the literature on critical human geography, which will be illustrated by a wide range of case studies from around the world. As we shall see, the Urban Anthropocene is not simply a world of cities. It is defined by a far broader process of planetary urbanization, including the expansion of infrastructure networks and the proliferation of extractive frontiers, through which the Earth is being produced as a single densely intermeshed and highly uneven urban space. But, as we will also see, this space is far from being a smoothly integrated machine. Instead, it is filled with instabilities, breakdowns and transitions, and is constantly being challenged and refashioned by resistances, revolutions, and utopian dreams. The Urban Anthropocene is ultimately ours to make, and this module provides the intellectual tools required to grasp this urgent challenge.

The human geography of the twenty-first century is marked by the dawn of two unprecedented epochs: the Anthropocene, a new geological era in which humanity’s impact on the planet is having catastrophic ecological consequences; and the ‘urban age’, when for the first time in human history, over half of the world’s population live in cities. This module explores the relationship between these twin processes of accelerating urbanization and environmental breakdown, which together define our planetary present.

The module begins with a review of the critical theoretical frameworks through which the urban Anthropocene is currently being conceptualised, including urban political ecology, historical geographical materialism, planetary urbanization, and capitalist world ecology. It then focuses on the interrelated processes of urban agglomeration, infrastructural expansion, and the proliferation of extractive frontiers, through which the Earth is being produced as a single densely intermeshed and highly uneven urban space. The second half of the module introduces a range of experimental research methodologies and creative writing methods through which scholars are seeking to grasp and convey the urban Anthropocene; and puts these methods to work in a fieldtrip through a ruined landscape of extractive violence. The module concludes by exploring diverse political ecologies of socioecological collapse, urban utopianism, and struggles of resistance, survival, and revolution, and drawing lessons for how to transform our planetary urban epoch.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -Grade C- to C+ Essay presents accurate empirical information and demonstrates some engagement with the conceptual themes and recommended readings addressed in the module. Learning log is complete, and demonstrates basic comprehension of most required readings. Report demonstrates limited understanding and deployment of the relevant methodologies.

-good -Grade B- to B+ Essay presents an appropriate quantity of accurate and well selected empirical information, and demonstrates successful engagement with the conceptual themes and recommended readings addressed in the module, as well as some capacity to reflect critically on these literatures and themes. Learning log is complete, and demonstrates comprehension of all required readings, as well as some ability to think critically across these readings. Report demonstrates reasonable understanding and deployment of the relevant methodologies.

-excellent -Grade A- and above. Essay presents an appropriate quantity of accurate and well selected empirical information, and demonstrates excellent engagement with the conceptual themes and recommended readings addressed in the module, as well as strong capacity to reflect critically and originally on these literatures and themes. Learning log is complete, and demonstrates extensive comprehension of all required readings, as well as an impressive ability to think critically and independently across these readings and in relation to the broader themes of the module. Report demonstrates excellent understanding and imaginative deployment of the relevant methodologies.

Learning Outcomes

• Creatively utilise qualitative research methodologies and experimental writing techniques grounded in relevant critical literatures on the urban Anthropocene.

• Critically evaluate competing perspectives on the nature and stakes of the socioecological crisis of planetary urbanization, and on how it can and should be transformed.

• Independently research and analyse the interrelated processes of urban agglomeration, infrastructural expansion, and natural resource extraction that characterise the urban Anthropocene.

• Interpret and constructively engage with a range of critical literatures in human geography and cognate disciplines on the theme of our planetary urban present.