Infrastructural Urbanism

3 units

The first two decades of the 21st century have brought a range of new forms of urban thinking in response to the challenges of climate change, wealth disparity, and the growing obsolescence of our urban systems. Infrastructural urbanism pulls from many disciplines and movements to build a theory around systems-based urban thinking that is inclusive rather than elitist, flexible rather than rigid, bottom up as well as top down, ecological as well as economical, and outcome-driven rather than object-focused. In this course, we will explore the history and theory of this emergent urban movement; identify and analyze relevant case studies; and explore three strategies for achieving next-generation infrastructure, with a particular focus on Los Angeles): broadening the process, transforming the prototype, and measuring what matters.