TARAPOTO,
Monday 26 September to Friday 30 September 2022
Monday 26 September 2022 to Friday 16 December 2022
SECOND TERM
Monday 9 January 2023 to Friday 24 March 2023
THIRD TERM
Monday 24 April 2023 to Friday 9 June 2023
FiRST TERM: Monday 7 to Friday 11 November 2022
SECOND TERM: Monday 13 to Friday 17 February 2023
Christmas: 5:30pm on Friday 23 December 2022 to 9:00am on Tuesday 3 January 2023
Easter: 5:30pm on Wednesday 5 April 2023 to 9:00am on Thursday 13 April 2023
Bank Holidays: Monday 01 May 2023, Monday 29 May 2023 and Monday 28 August 2023
All Bank Holidays, and the College closure dates based on them, are the standard dates and may be subject to change by government.
Overseas Fieldtrip: Third term, first two weeks of May 2023
Submission of Dissertation: Friday 1 September 2023 by 14.00
Module coursework deadlines can be found on Moodle and in Module handbooks
The MASc Global Urbanism programme is designed to equip you with the critical skills and specialist knowledge to operate as an urbanist in today’s global environment, collaborating across sectors to tackle urgent challenges and shape fairer cities. Cities are complex, diverse, and globally interconnected. To develop insights into global urban experiences and respond to contemporary challenges we need to build knowledge collaboratively across different locations and draw on multiple academic disciplines, professions, and communities.
To do this, the programme draws on the breadth of UCL’s urban expertise and provides you with state-of-the-art knowledge of urbanism – a term that embraces the social and cultural life of cities, and the numerous approaches and practices which set out to understand and shape urban futures. You will graduate from this programme with the ability to draw from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, conceptual frameworks, and practices. And you will be
ready to engage across diverse cities and lead in a variety of roles in urban policy, research, and practice.
This guide is intended to familiarise you with the scope, objectives, and structure of the programme. You will find specific information on:
→ The programme’s objectives and structure
→ The modules you can choose
→ What is expected of you and what you can expect from us
→ Student support avaliable
Please note that the information offered in this Guide is correct at the time of printing. However, some details are subject to change during the year and you are expected to check your UCL email account on a regular basis and ensure that you are enrolled in all the relevant modules on Moodle to receive messages and information from the Urban Lab, programme team and other module tutors. Do not hesitate to ask academic staff, Joe Penny (the Programme Director) or Sophie Mepham (Urban Lab Manager) for further information or clarification.
This programme guide should be read in conjunction with the UCL Academic Manual https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ academic-manual/ and The Bartlett Masters Faculty Manual 2022/23.
We look forward to meeting you and working with you on this exciting step in your academic development!
Nishat Awan
Kara Blackmore
Ben Campkin
Clare Melhuish
Sophie Mepham
Njogu Morgan
Joe Penny Jennifer Robinson Pablo Sendra
September 2022
UCL Urban Laboratory is one of UCL’s best known and longest-established cross-disciplinary research centres, formally established in 2005 by geographer Matthew Gandy as a platform for collaboration between urbanists across faculties. Since then, it has significantly enhanced the na tional and international profile of urban teaching, research and engagement at UCL and continues to develop its distinctive contribution to urban debate, policy and prac tice within and beyond the academy, and across a network of cities. We currently prioritise eight areas of transdisci plinary research and engagement activity under the themes of vertical urbanism, feminist cities, globalising urbanisms, housing urbanism, queer infrastructure, urban heritage, wasteland, and urban nights. Our public programmes such as Urban Pamphleteer, Cities Imaginaries and Urban Lab Films, produced with a wide range of external partners, exemplify a commitment to the decolonisation of urban
education, and to the promotion of emerging scholars and public-facing research and practice. We have been critical ly engaged since 2012 with the development of UCL East as a site for the development of urban theory and ethical practice in London in collaboration with a diversity of urban stakeholders, and in conjunction with the UCL Urban Room which we co-manage.
UCL East is the university’s new campus on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It’s the biggest development in UCL’s nearly 200-year history and provides the scale and space we need to help tackle the biggest challenges facing people and the planet. The campus is located south of the Aquatics Centre, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, and adjacent to the former Olympic Stadium (now West Ham football stadium) and the spiralling ArcelorMittal Orbit. It forms part of the East Bank education and cultural district which includes Sadlers Wells, BBC Music, the V&A (Victo ria and Albert Museum), University of the Arts London and London College of Fashion).
The first two buildings – One Pool Street, opening in 2022 and Marshgate, opening in 2023 – form Phase 1 of the UCL East campus, a site of 50,000 square meters. One Pool Street is packed with multidisciplinary research labs and studios exploring ecology, robotics, urbanism, culture, disability and heritage, with a lecture theatre doubling as a cinema, a shop, café and homes for 500+ students. Marshgate includes eight floors of hi-tech, cross-disci plinary research labs, teaching areas, fabrication work shops, collaboration spaces, a library, a refectory, prayer space and a UCL Institute of Making. The UCL East campus has been purpose-designed to be accessible, sustainable and open to the public, with exhibitions and public art from local artists.
The new degree programmes (around 60) cohere around a vision to integrate innovative research and education, the ory and practice – through approaches which are transdis ciplinary and publicly engaged. For more information, visit the UCL East website: www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-east
Located in Stratford at the UCL East Campus, the Urban Room is an experimental exhibition space for students, researchers, artists, and community members. Based on the idea of an ‘urban room’ as a forum for community-based debate and dialogue, the UCL Urban Room brings together academic research and lived experiences of city residents to inspire meaningful education for our students and visi tors. Users of the urban room are invited to join a dynamic network of practice focused on issues of global urbanism, heritage, arts, and social history. The space is equipped with oral history recording and archiving capabilities through its initiative of a Memory Workshop. Together, the Urban Room and Memory Workshop are supported by The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment and the School for Creative and Cultural Industries at the University College London. Contact: urbanroom@ucl.ac.uk
The aim of this programme is to support you to become an exemplary, world-leading, urban researcher and practitioner who can influence the future trajectory of cities globally. On completion of the programme you will have undertaken advanced, experimental and collaborative research and be qualified to creatively address the complexity of cities and urbanization, and the global challenges and potentials that they present.
The programme provides specialist training and leads to a Masters of Arts and Sciences (MASc) degree. As such, the approach taken is critical, transdisciplinary, comparative, and engaged. Building on UCL Urban Lab’s activities, the programme will focus on intervention and experimentation across different epistemologies and practices, including through community collaboration, design, policy, or histor ical and theoretical engagement. Over the course of your studies, you will build a critical understanding of global urbanism by combining cutting-edge theory with immersive
engagement, specialising either in the highly globalised urban context of London, or on selected international urban contexts. The use of the term ‘Studio’ indicates the pro gramme’s distinctive transdisciplinary, case study-based and collaborative approach to learning. Your education in the methods of urban research, and the ethics and practice of global urbanism, will be inspired by the fabric of cities: you will learn from the people who live in them, the concepts and techniques that have emerged to shape and interpret them, and the cultures that forge new possibilities for them.
This MASc provides skills and knowledge that will help you to develop and build a career in built environment and urban policy and practice positions that require a sophis ticated understanding of the contexts and complexity of urban challenges and development in cities internationally.
Upon graduating, you will be suited to a wide range of urban and built environment careers that engage with processes of urban change and design, community participation, inclusive urban development, and governance. The creative problem-solving, analytical, collaboration, and presentation skills that you will develop will also provide a good prepara tion for doctoral study and professional research positions.
On successful completion of the programme, you will have acquired the following specialist knowledge and skills:
→ You will have a sophisticated understanding of the vari ety of approaches to global urbanism taken by scholars and practitioners.
→ You will be able to assess the contemporary character and challenges of urbanism in London and international cities and their likely future trajectories.
→ You will have familiarity with key events and transforma tions in the history of urbanism in London and international cities, including both long-term and recent history.
→ You will be skilled in analysing international scholarly re sources on global urbanism and will be able to contribute to these through your own research.
→ You will be familiar with the variety of ways urbanists are working collaboratively to understand cities and to inter vene to positively shape fairer outcomes internationally.
→ You will understand the social and cultural complexities
which inform the development of the urban landscape and critical concepts of urban heritage in a comparative global context.
→ You will be able to identify and formulate original re search questions which address urban problematics related to London or international city sites.
→ You will have practical experience in the use of a range of methods, including their potentials and limits, ethical issues, the kinds of evidence they produce, and the ways this evidence is used by urbanists and impacts on cities and urban outcomes.
→ You will be familiar with different urban specialisms and expertise, the relationships between them, and methods for transdisciplinarity and collaboration across them.
→ You will be able to design an urban research intervention that is critical and experimental and informed by knowledge of the variety of practices of urbanism.
→ You will be equipped to pursue further creative and rigorous transdisciplinary urban interventions through research and practice.
→ You will have acquired knowledge and skills in a range of relevant field-based urban research methods and case study sites.
→ You will be well placed to apply the knowledge, compre hension, and analytical skills acquired in this course into projects of diverse media.
→ You will be able to effectively communicate in verbal and written formats the key texts, references and sources of evidence studied in the programme.
→ You will be well placed to prepare and present arguments and illustrative materials in a variety of presentational formats - written, graphic, numerical, and oral.
→ You will have knowledge of working in a diverse (multi disciplinary/multicultural) research environment.
→ You will have experienced working collectively in teams and managing group work to achieve effective, innova tive, and meaningful outcomes.
The MASc programme requires approximately 1,800 hours of student learning time. This involves activities such as lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, field visits, field trip, project work, private reading, and writing. Full time students should commit to approximately 40 hours of study a week throughout the programme of study.
The programme is organised into modules. Each module involves a defined number of hours of learning time and is measured in credits. For example, a 15-credit module involves around 150 hours of student learning time, while a 30-credit module generally requires twice that level.
In order to be recommended to UCL for an award of the degree of MASc Global Urbanism, you will need to pass 180 credits. The programme is structured into CORE modules (105 credits), STUDIO PATHWAY modules (45 credits) and ELECTIVE modules (30 credits).
The Core modules are taken by everyone on the programme and provide the key theoretical and methodological scaffold ing. There are four core modules: Global Urbanism, Theory & Politics (15 credits), Engaged Urbanism (15 credits), Cities Methodologies (15 credits) and the Dissertation (60 credits).
The Pathway modules provide you with an opportunity to deepen your expertise in either London (London Studio Pathway) or a selection of cities internationally (Global Studio Pathway). The London Studio Pathway modules are: East London Lab (15 credits) and Histories of Global London 1 & 2 (15+15 credits credits). The Global Studio Pathway modules are: Cities Studio (15 credits), Global Urban Theory Lab (15 credits), and City Co-Labs (15 credits). Please note that the Global Studio Pathway includes an overseas fieldtrip. Students taking the London Studio Pathway can also attend the overseas fieldtrip if they choose City Colabs as part of their 30 credits of electives. The London Studio Pathway modules include London-based fieldwork activities and site visits.
Additionally, you may choose 30 credits worth of Elective modules. These can be chosen from within the MASc programme (i.e. from the parallel Studio to the one you have chosen as your pathway) or from a selection of approved modules on other UCL programmes. These include:
CIVIC DESIGN
LONDON
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Find
more about the UCL East
here:
from other programmes subject to approval, availability, and timetabling.
may be able to choose
The subject matter of each module is defined by topics set by the Module Convenor, set out in a Module Outline, with an associated reading list which will be posted on UCL’s on line learning environment Moodle (see below). A complete list of topics will generally be provided in the first meeting of the term for each module. The reading list will offer a selection of references about the topic under discussion in each seminar session. As well as reading the required readings for each session, students are expected to investi gate a wider body of literature related to the module theme, and on topics for which they are preparing specific items of work. The Module Convenor(s) will explain the format of each seminar series during the first meeting of the module. Tutors will have determined an appropriate structure and way of running the module.
Most of the teaching takes place in terms 1 and 2. In term 3, those on the Global Studio Pathway will take Global Urban Theory Lab and participate in the overseas fieldtrip to Johannesburg (along with those taking Cities Studio and City Co-Labs as electives). Part of the Civic Design elective also runs in term 3. In term 4 students will complete their Dis sertation. The Dissertation is a process which starts in the first term, when you will begin to develop your topic idea. In the second and third terms you will develop your research proposal. In the Fourth term you will undertake and writeup your project under the guidance of a supervisor chosen from the Urban Lab network.
The structured activities organised within modules (such as lectures, seminars, site visits and fieldtrips) are the starting point for your study. Modules provide an outline of the subject matters that must be studied in-depth through in dependent reading and written work. Including time spent in lectures and seminars, you should spend approximately 150 hours studying for each 15-credit module you take (on private study during the term, preparing for seminars, com pleting group work, independent fieldwork, and undertaking of coursework assignments). There is sufficient free time in the programme to read and write independently or in in formal groups to ensure you reach the level of competence expected from a postgraduate degree student.
Part-time students will complete the programme in 2 years.
For part-time students, the modules will be split as follows.
→ Year 1 – Term 1: Engaged Urbanism and East London Lab or Cities Studio according to pathway choice;
→ Year 1 – Term 2: Histories of Global London or City CoLabs + Global Urban Theory Lab depending on pathway.
→ Year 2 – Global Urbanism Theory and Politics, Cities Methodologies, electives, dissertation. Some students may also be pursuing the programme through a flexible modular mode over 2 to 5 years: modules will be taken in bespoke order with guidance from programme director.
The following modules are Core modules and will be taken by all students on the MASc Global Urbanism programme.
This module will introduce students to the state of the art in global urban studies, focussing on theoretical and related methodological debates concerning the nature of global urbanisation. Overarching themes will be: how understandings of the urban must be produced across diverse urban experiences and the varied processes of urbanisation and globalisation which shape distinctive urban outcomes across the globe. The syllabus will cover approaches such as Planetary Urbanisation, Comparative Urbanism, Regional approaches, urban specificity, developmental approaches, feminist, black and indigenous urban studies. The course will draw on a wide scholarship from different urban regions. Different theoretical perspectives vary in their understandings of how conceptualisations of global urban isation can emerge across diverse and distinctive urban ex periences; and how difference and diversity are articulated within urban contexts. Critical engagement with theoretical traditions in urban studies will inform in-depth analyses of the power relations and politics of the circulation of global urban knowledge in shaping urbanisation processes. Close attention will be given to the role of different transnational and locally embedded urban actors shaping circulating concepts and theory. Critical attention will be given to how urban scholars and practitioners are implicated in the cir
culations of knowledge in global urban design, policy, and development. Wider insights on the power relations and political actors shaping urban developments in different contexts will follow.
This module explores how, why, and with whom we learn about, represent, and intervene in urban environments through a variety of methodological strategies, practices, and performances. Bridging and blurring theory and prac tice, the module is animated by and organised around an orientation to ‘engaged urbanism’ as a distinctive approach to address the most pressing global urban issues and agen das, including this year on housing inequality/justice. En gaged urbanism is defined throughout this module through four commitments. First, intervention: engaged urbanism is concerned with purposefully and creatively confronting, critiquing, and addressing key global urban issues and the concrete problems that structure the everyday quality of life for city dwellers. Second, situatedness: engaged urbanism takes seriously the importance of context, histories, conjunctures, socio-political formations, institu tions, cultures, as well as positionality and power relations to critically comprehend and intervene in different urban issues. Third, collaboration: engaged urbanism emphasises the importance of coproducing knowledge, projects and performances and considers how we work across differ ence in the collective and intersectional articulation and pursuit of more just urban futures. Finally, transdisciplinary; engaged urbanism draws on a diverse repertoire of philosophies, theories, approaches, practices, and methodologies across disciplines and knowledge silos to bring theory and practice into productive interaction.
This module focuses on the practical aspects of methodology and research design, including framing a research question, choosing and specifying methods, ethical proce dures and requirements, project management, the realiza tion and dissemination of research outputs and anticipation of audiences and impacts. Students will be supported to design and pilot a piece of urban research that is experimental, collaborative, considers local and global scales,
and bridges between traditionally separate domains of knowledge and expertise. In line with the UCL East ethos the focus will be on hands-on, engaged urban research that takes risks and, in collaboration with communities, seeks to intervene towards fairer cities and outcomes. Students submit a portfolio for critical appraisal including their proposal, research design, indicative sources and pilot research completed during the course.
The final project for obtaining the MASc qualification is the London/Global Studio Dissertation. Students may design and realise an original research project on London or another partner city (or an agreed alternative) using an innovative methodology of ‘engaged urbanism’. They will choose the particular focus of their research and will agree on a research question with their supervisor. Topics can include issues related to planning, urban design, heritage, culture, ecology, infrastructure, and social, economic and political matters. Students will be expected to reflect on the impact of their research project and on the connections to practice and different communities and/or interest groups in London. Following the modules ‘Engaged Urbanism’ and ‘Cities Methodologies’, where students have been exposed to diverse methodological approaches, students will be asked to explore methodologies that are transdisciplinary, experimental and collaborative. Students will have the possibility to link their Dissertation to their professional practice or another live context.
The following modules are Core for the London Studio Path way. They are also available as an option/elective to others as standalone modules.
Based at UCL East, the module uses East London as a living lab to understand London and its global connec tions through a transdisciplinary lens, taking a diversity of evidence from the built environment and urban culture into account. Through talks and site visits, and the use of the
UCL Urban Room for hands-on study, students are exposed to a rich heritage of work and key thinkers on London, to material held in UCL’s Special Collections, and to past and present approaches to the study of London from different disciplinary perspectives and through different media.
→ BARC0128 HISTORIES OF GLOBAL LONDON: Part 1 CASE STUDIES AND PART 2 SITES AND METHODS
Term 2 (30 credits) Module Convenors: Clare Melhuish and Ben Campkin or
→ BARC0129 HISTORIES OF GLOBAL LONDON: Part 1 only
Term 2 (15 credits) weeks 1–6
These two linked modules focus on understanding how London’s built environment has been shaped by its global connections and associated population flows, from 1900 to the present. They consider the changing framework of ur ban governance, architectural and community development at a number of definitive moments, such as the publication of the County of London Plan (1943), the dissolution of the Greater London Council in 1986, the establishment of the Greater London Authority and Mayor of London in 2000, and approaches to culture and the built environment under the current mayor, Sadiq Khan. The modules draw on a multi plicity of sources to analyse urban regeneration and gentrification. They look at the formation of particular places through the influence of minoritised communities, cultural practices and intangible heritage. They position the city’s global colonial histories and its social diversity as central to a critical understanding of its urban and architectural heritage and future. The modules ask students to engage critically with questions such as: how do we assess urban and architectural heritage as a social, cultural and econom ic asset for urban development in complex multicultural and/or postcolonial cities (UNESCO 2011)? Within urban and architectural practice, how are heritage and culture im plicated in contested redevelopment? Participants engage with key debates in the history and theory of urban change in relation to histories of urban social movements, theories of identity and inclusion, and of critical heritage. These modules pursue UCL Urban Laboratory’s transdisciplinary and multi-media approaches; with a specific emphasis on ethnographic, oral, visual and archival methods and sourc es. The 15-credit module (Part 1, BARC0129) focuses on historical and theoretical contexts taught through second-
ary sources and case studies; the 30-credit module (Parts 1 and 2, BARC0128) develops a deeper engagement with pri mary sources and evidence in the second part of the term.
The following modules are Core for the Global Studio Pathway. They are also available as an option/elective to others as standalone modules.
The aims of this course are to develop the skills to build an understanding of unfamiliar urban contexts, through a critical engagement with scholarship on selected urban contexts. Students will have the opportunity to acquire specific, detailed knowledge of and insight into urbanisation and urban experiences of three urban contexts. The course will involve active engagement with the history and urban challenges of the partner city, Johannesburg, as well as selected cases. This year (22/23) these are Skardu (Pakistan) and Kingston (Jamaica). Themes will be drawn from the ex isting scholarship from and about the partner cities, as well as from policy challenges, urban political vissues, artistic practice and design, and planning innovations in those con texts. A wide variety of sources will be interrogated through workshops and studio activities, including academic and policy sources, empirical studies, data analysis, maps, visual, artistic, and cultural productions.
→ BARC0195 CITY CO-LABS
Term 2/3 (15 credits) Module Convenor: Jennifer Robinson
This module will consist of a focused field trip-based engagement with a selected partner city. It will involve real time collaboration with different actors and organisations in the selected city, Johanneburg, including through inter action with students from partner institutions in that city and in-situ fieldwork. It will build core skills in the ethics of global urban practice through close collaboration with scholars and practitioners in the partner city. It will dove tail with the Engaged Urbanism and Cities Methodologies courses, reinforcing learning of different ways to know and understand urban life, and enabling practical engagement with multidisciplinary approaches and practices through which the futures of cities are being shaped. The course
will focus on building a pedagogy and urban practice which supports the engaged and collaborative production of urban knowledge, policy and interventions through distinc tive Co-Laboratory methods working with different actors e.g. government, communities, private sector, international agencies. It will consolidate the city-focused learning on global urban history and theory in the Cities Studio mod ules, through collaborative online and/or in situ engage ments with different aspects of urban practice. Close investigation of specific elements of urban processes in the selected city will be facilitated should medical issues prevent travel.
This module supports students in actively building con ceptual insights relevant to the diversity of urban contexts across the globe. It will involve students in a process of theoretical critique and concept development related to se lected themes in urban studies and drawing on (a) African urban experiences and (b) urban contexts they are familiar with. A key initial focus will be on how to define the urban and understand urbanisation processes in response to the diverse, fragmented and dispersed forms of global urban settlements. A key concern will be with the implications of this for urban governance. This course will be presented as a combination of a MOOC for online study (with fully open external access) supported by online collaborations with partner city students and staff (in 2022/23 this will be the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg). This module will be delivered in the form of in-person seminars and a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC)
The programme includes urban fieldwork and site visits in London and an intensive two-week fieldtrip to Johannesburg, South Africa, where we will work with our international partner, the University of Witwatersrand. London Studio involves local fieldwork specifically as part of the East London Lab and Histories of Global London modules. The Global Studio includes the Johannesburg field trip as part of the City Co-Labs module. London Studio students can also participate in the overseas fieldtrip if they elect to take City Co-Labs as an elective.
You are free to choose the Pathway that most interests you as well as 30 credits of elective modules. You will have a chance to discuss your choice with your personal tutor during induction week. You must register on the exact number of credits required for the MASc programme; you must not register on too many or too few credits. You need to choose your Pathway and elective modules by Week 3, the exact deadline will be published in the ‘Module Selection Task’ on Portico. Until then you may ‘audit’ all the modules on the programme to get a better sense of what they are like.
For a student to be considered for the award of the MASc degree, performance in modules and the dissertation must be assessed as being satisfactory (see below). A student who meets the Award Requirements for a programme of study leading to a Taught Masters Degree will be awarded a Pass, Merit or Distinction Classification. These are awarded as follows.
QUALIFIES FOR DISTINCTION: A Final Weighted Mark greater than or equal to 69.50%, or A Final Weighted Mark great er than or equal to 68.50% and Module marks of at least 70.00% in at least 50% of all credits.
QUALIFIES FOR MERIT: A Final Weighted Mark greater than or equal to 59.50%, or A Final Weighted Mark greater than or equal to 58.50% and Module marks of at least 60.00% in at least 50% of all credits.
To qualify for a pass and be awarded the MASc Global Urban ism qualification students must pass all modules (achieving 50% and above in each module). A student who does not Pass all modules will be considered to have met the Award Requirements if they meet all of the following criteria:
→ They pass all non-condonable modules, AND;
→ They attain marks in the Condonable Range (40-49.99%) in no more than 30 credit taught credits, AND;
→ They have no module marks below the Condonable Range (i.e. below 40%), AND;
→ They pass the Dissertation (mark of 50% and above), AND;
→ They Achieve a credit weighted mean of a least 50% across all credits.
Should a student not meet the requirements for the MASc degree qualification, they may be eligible for reassessment (see below) or for a Postgraduate Diploma (120 credits re quired) or a Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits required).
Whilst the programme teaching staff initially conduct the assessment, an external examiner will then review their recommendations. The final decision to recommend the award of degree to UCL is made by the Board of Examiners in their summer and autumn meetings.
There are two types of assessment that you will encounter on the programme: formative and summative.
Formative assessment provides students with frequent opportunities to develop their knowledge and understand ing of assessment so that they understand how to do well on their programme. Students should receive feedback on formative assessments to help them understand how to improve their performance. A formative assessment may in clude an indicative mark, but these marks do not contribute to the award of credit and are not included in the calcula tion of the Classification.
Summative assessment is the formal assessment of student performance against the learning outcomes. Students will receive a mark and will receive feedback for every
summative assessment. These marks are used to determine a student’s progress through their programme and their eligibility for an Award. Summative assessment marks are recorded in the student’s transcript and aggregated using a set formula to determine the student’s Classification at the end of the programme (pass, merit or distinction).
Assessment of student performance in MASc Global Urban ism modules consists only of coursework and the Disser tation. There are no examinations associated with this pro gramme (although there may be examinations associated with electives taken outside of the programme). A variety of papers, presentations, projects, portfolio work, and exercis es are used to assess coursework in a module. The Module Tutor will communicate the nature of what is expected for each piece of coursework associated with the module they convene as well as the deadline for submission of coursework. This information will be available on Moodle as well as the relevant module handbook.
All coursework is submitted electronically by students through Turnitin. In exceptional circumstances, Module Tutors will state in the relevant Module Outline if specific pieces of coursework also require a hardcopy submission.
The dissertation must be submitted on the 1st September 2023 (except in cases especially considered in UCL regula tions). Every participant must submit two hard copies of the dissertation for consideration by the examiners, as well as one electronic copy submitted through Turnitin by 14.00. Dissertations must be typed in one-and-a-half or dou ble spacing on white, A4 size paper and heat-bound (not hard-binding and, if possible, avoid spiral binding). Dis sertations are assessed by two Internal Examiners, and an External Examiner. They will be concerned that the work exhibits a substantial knowledge and engagement with the subject of the programme. Examiners will also be looking for analysis that uses concepts, theories, and the lessons of experience explored in the programme. The work must present and support a coherent argument.
All individual essays and some other coursework are marked anonymously. Please make sure you sign your work using the candidate number only. However, you will be required to add your name to group work, dissertations, and individual portfolios assignment submissions, as these are not marked anonymously.
Regular feedback is an essential part of every student’s learning. Students can expect to receive feedback within one calendar month of the deadline for submission of each piece of assessed work (including weekends and vacations). If, for whatever reason, a Department or Mod ule Organiser cannot ensure that the one calendar month deadline is met then they must indicate, by direct contact with the students on the module through email/Moodle, when the feedback will be provided. It is expected that the extra time needed should not exceed one week. Where feedback is not provided within the timescale, students should bring the matter to the attention of the Departmen tal Tutor or Head of Department who should take action as necessary. If students remain dissatisfied then the matter should be referred to the Faculty Tutor.
All work that is submitted for summative assessment is marked by a UCL Internal Examiner or Assistant Internal Examiner. All UCL programmes also include rigorous sec ond-marking and internal moderation processes to ensure that marking is consistent and fair. Second-marking can take a number of different forms depending on the type of assessment, but the overall aim is to ensure that marking is as accurate as possible. Internal moderation also helps UCL to ensure that marking is equitable across different modules, pathways, options and electives.
External Examiners are senior academics or practitioners from other universities who help UCL to monitor the quality of the education we provide to our students. In particular, External Examiners scrutinise the assessment processes on each programme, helping UCL to ensure that all students have been treated fairly, that academic standards have been upheld and that the qualifications awarded are com
parable with similar degrees at other UK universities. Each External Examiner submits an annual report. Faculties and departments are required to reflect on any recommen dations and address any issues raised in a formal response. The report and response are discussed with Student Reps at the Staff-Student Consultative Committee, and are scrutinised by faculty, department and institution-level committees. Students can access their External Examiner’s report and departmental response via their Portico account or by contacting their Departmental Administrator in the first instance or Student and Registry Services directly at examiners@ucl.ac.uk.
Planning, time-management, and the meeting of deadlines are part of the personal and professional skills expected of all graduates. For this reason, students are required to submit all work by the published deadline date and time. Extenuating Circumstances: Where a student is ill or has other Extenuating Circumstances preventing them from meeting the published deadline, they must follow the procedures in Chapter 2, Section 2: Short-term Illness and Other Extenuating Circumstances. If the EC is accepted, the student may be granted an extension. If the deadline has already passed, the late submission penalties may be suspended i.e. the below penalties will not apply.
The primary method of submitting all written coursework (both individual and group work) is through Turnitin, the on line submission system. All Turnitin submissions (including dissertations) have a deadline of 14.00 on the designated date. Unless there is an unavoidable reason (i.e. extenu ating circumstance) – attested in writing by an objective third party (for example in the form of a medical certificate) – work submitted via Turnitin after the submission deadline will be penalised.
Late Submission Penalties for Coursework and Disserta tions: Where there are no Extenuating Circumstances, the following penalties will apply to all components which are submitted after the published date and time:
→ Up to 2 days late: Deduction of 10 percentage points
→ 2-5 days late: Mark capped at 50.00%
→ More than 5 days late: Mark of 1.00%
Part of the skill in writing is to make the most efficient use of the words available within the given limit. Complying with word limits is important as it helps students prepare for professional practice in many work situations and because allowing some students to write more than others may give them an unfair advantage. Assignment briefs will include clear instructions about word counts, the inclusion of footnotes, diagrams, images, tables, figures and bibli ographies etc. Students are expected to adhere to the re quirements for each assessment. Coursework must include a statement confirming the total word count. You must adhere to the required word length (counted in MS word) and in some cases specified number of pages (e.g. portfolio submissions). References do not count towards the word count, but footnotes do. If submitted work is found to be over or below the upper word limit by more than 10%, the mark will be reduced by five final marks. However, assuming that the work merits a pass, the lowest mark after a penalty for over-long or too short work has been imposed will not be below 50%.
UCL recognises that some students can experience serious difficulties and personal problems which affect their ability to complete an assessment such as a sudden, serious illness or the death of a close relative. Students need to make sure that they notify UCL of any circumstances which are unexpected, significantly disruptive and beyond their control, and which might have a significant impact on their performance at assessment. UCL can then put in place alternative arrangements, such as an extension or a deferral of assessment to a later date.
If you would like to make a Extenuating Circumstances claim, please consult the UCL student support framework (sections 1 & 2) and speak to your personal tutor and/ or the Departmental Tutor (Dr Nishat Awan). Information relating to a student’s Extenuating Circumstance will be treated confidentially. This means that sensitive information will only be shared with the relevant Programme Leader/
Departmental Tutor/ Chair of Board of Examiners and the members and Secretary of the home Faculty or Departmen tal EC Panel.
The Extenuating Circumstances regulations are designed to cover unexpected emergencies; they are not always the best way to help students who might have a longer-term medical or mental health condition or a disability. Although there may be times when it is necessary for such students to use the EC regulations, students should make sure they are aware of, and take advantage of, all the other support mechanisms provided by UCL such as:
→ Reasonable adjustments
→ Examination Adjustments
→ Student Disability Services
→ Student Disability Services
→ Student Psychological Services
→ Student Support and Wellbeing
→ Support to Study Policy
→ UCL Student Mental Health Policy
UCL provides a range of support for disabled students and those with long-term physical mental health conditions. If you need support, please consult section 3 of the UCL student Support Framework and/or speak to your personal tutor and/or the Departmental Tutor. Students with physical or mental health concerns are encouraged to contact the available support services as early as possible so that UCL can put in place reasonable adjustments to support them vthroughout their studies.
UCL will make Reasonable Adjustments to learning, teach ing and assessment to ensure that students with a disabil ity are not put at a disadvantage. UCL also provides Reasonable Adjustments for students who might not consider themselves to have a ‘disability’ but who nevertheless would benefit from additional support due to an ongoing medical or mental health condition. It is the responsibility of the student to request Reasonable Adjustments, and students are encouraged to make a request as early as possible. To find out more, see: Academic Manual Chapter 4, Section 5: Reasonable Adjustments Disability.
UCL can also make Reasonable Adjustments for students who are pregnant or who need to go on Maternity, Paternity, Parental Leave and Adoption Leave. Students do not have to apply for a Summary of Reasonable Adjustments but should instead contact UCL Student Support and Wellbeing to find out about the support available.
Students may need Reasonable Adjustments to help them observe their faith, particularly where classes or assessments might fall on important religious dates. Students do not have to apply for a Summary of Reasonable Adjust ments but should instead contact the appropriate Chaplain for advice and support. Further information is also available in UCL’s Religion and Belief Policy. Religion and Faith Reli gion and Belief Equality Policy for Students.
Students must maintain the highest standards of academ ic integrity whilst studying at UCL. All work submitted for assessment must be the student’s own, unless authorisation has been given for collaboration, and all work must be appropriately cited and referenced.
UCL will investigate and, where necessary, penalise any conduct which is likely to give an unfair advantage to the candidate, affect the security of assessment, and/or affect the standards of the degrees awarded by UCL including, but not limited to, instances of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, im personation, collusion, falsification, exam room misconduct, or contract cheating. Any such conduct will be investigated in accordance with the regulations in Chapter 6, Section 9: Student Academic Misconduct.
→ Plagiarism is defined as the presentation of another person’s thoughts or words or artefacts or software as though they were a student’s own.
→ Any quotation from the published or unpublished works of other persons, must, therefore, be clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks, and
students should identify their sources as accurately and as fully as possible.
→ A series of short quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes plagiarism just as much as a single unacknowledged long quotation from a single source. Equally, if a student summarises another person’s ideas, judgments, figures, diagrams or software, a reference to that person in the text must be made and the work referred to must be included in the bibliography.
→ Plagiarism can also be applied to drawn, graphic work or artefacts; the sources should be clearly identified.
→ Recourse to the services of ‘ghost-writing’ agencies (for example in the preparation of essays or reports) or outside word-processing agencies which offer ‘correc tion/improvement’ of English’ is strictly forbidden, and students who make use of the services of such agencies render themselves liable for an academic penalty.
→ Commissioning other students or outside assistance in the production of drawn, computer generated or made work without appropriate identification of recognition will render the student liable for academic penalty.
→ Use of unacknowledged information downloaded from the internet also constitutes plagiarism.
→ Where part of an examination consists of ‘takeaway’ papers, essays or other written work in the student’s own time, or a coursework assessment, the work submitted must be the candidate’s own.
→ It is also illicit to reproduce material which a student has used in other work / assessment for the module or programme concerned. Students should be aware of this ‘self-plagiarism’.
If you are in any doubt about this, or need more informa tion on plagiarism and on how to adequately use material by others and by yourself, you should consult the Pro gramme Leader or your Personal Tutor before you hand in your assignment.
Use of unacknowledged information downloaded from the Internet also constitutes plagiarism.
The recourse of services such as ‘ghost-writing agencies’ for the preparation of essays or reports, or to agencies that offer correction/improvement of English, is strictly forbid-
den and students who make use of these services render themselves liable for an academic penalty.
UCL uses plagiarism detection software to scan course work for evidence of plagiarism against billions of sources worldwide (websites, journals etc. as well as work previously submitted to UCL and other universities). We require students to submit work electronically via these systems and ask students to declare that submissions are the work of the student alone.
UCL’s goal is to put students’ feedback, insights and contri butions at the heart of our decision-making. We value your feedback and will work with you as partners in the process of shaping your education at UCL and on the MASc Global Urbanism. There are several ways in which you can feed your experiences and opinions back to us.
Each year we will ask students to nominate a programme representative from amongst the student cohort. The role of the programme representative will be to communicate student experiences and concerns to the Programme Di rector (Dr Joe Penny). The programme representative’s role will focus on the group experience and they are not there to address specific students concerns, which students should address to their personal tutor or the Departmental Tutor (Dr Nishat Awan).
At the end of each term, students will be asked to fill in assessment questionnaires of their modules (answers can be anonymous). These are essential aids to providing the necessary feedback to maintain responsive and responsible teaching.
One of the principal ways in which UCL gathers and re sponds to student feedback is via online student expe rience surveys such as the National Student Survey, The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) and the Student Barometer. Whether it’s about teaching, accom
modation, or facilities, surveys are a chance for students to have their say about what works and what needs improving, to help us make sure that UCL is as good as it can be for current and future students. Each survey usually takes just a few minutes to complete, all responses are anonymous and some include a generous prize draw.
Starting a postgraduate degree is an exciting time. But we recognise that it can also be challenging and may be stressful. UCL provides a range of support services that you can familiarise yourself with and that we encourage you to access. We have listed some of the main ones below, but this is not an exhaustive list.
Portico is the main UCL student information system, which is used by all students for:
→ Updating personal data such as addresses or contact numbers;
→ Completing online module registration;
→ Viewing information about programmes/modules;
→ Viewing examination timetables and results;
→ Pre-enrolment and re-enrolment.
Moodle (moodle.ucl.ac.uk) provides an integrated online learning environment and will be used in all of your mod ules. Amongst other things, Moodle enables you to: (a) access programme materials like the programme guide, module outlines and core module readings; (b) access web resources of relevance to the module, (c) access disserta tions from other students (if posted by the tutor), and, (d) communicate with other students. Moodle is a key chan nel of communication for the Masters as well as for each module and general information on jobs and scholarships are posted through Moodle. Moodle Student Guides can be found here: https://wiki.ucl.ac.uk/display/ELearningStu dentSupport/Moodle
UCL Library offers a range of online guides, training, and other support to help you develop your library and information literacy skills and make the best of UCL’s libraries and resources. These include essential skills, searching and evaluating for information, referencing, and managing information, communicating and sharing information, and other training and support. See: https://library-guides.ucl. ac.uk/skills
The UCL Information Services Division (ISD), the primary provider of IT services to UCL, offers IT learning opportu nities for students and staff in the form of ‘How to’ guides which provide step-by-step guidance to all of ISD’s key ser vices, including email and calendar services, user IDs and passwords, print, copy and scanning, Wi-Fi and networks. There are also opportunities for digital skills development through face-to-face training in areas such as data analysis, programming, desktop applications and more, along with individual support through drop-ins and via the ISD Service Desk. (www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/services/learning- teaching/ it-training).
UCL provides you access to a huge range of free video tuto rials supporting learning in software, creative and business skills. Learn more here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/isd/linke din-learning
We are committed to providing you with a supportive learn ing environment and the best possible pastoral care. UCL has put in place clear expectations for personal tutoring, which all departments implement (www.ucl.ac.uk/person altutors). Every MASc student will be allocated a personal tutor from the teaching team whom they will meet periodi cally each term.
The role of personal tutoring is to provide a system in which:
→ You have access to academic advice and pastoral support from a staff member who knows you;
→ You have support to develop effective study skills and habits;
→ You have a Tutor who can follow and review your overall academic progress and provide feedback and advice;
→ You have one or more Tutors who can help you to understand relevant University rules, processes and regula tions;
→ You have one or more Tutors who can provide you with appropriate information, support and clear directions when specific problems arise.
You can learn more about the role of tutors here: https:// www.ucl.ac.uk/students/academic-support/personal-tu tors/personal-tutoring
The Departmental Tutor (Dr Nishat Awan) has overall responsibility for the general academic and pastoral oversight of students on the MASc Global Urbanism Programme. The Departmental Tutor is your first point of contact should you wish to raise a complaint or grievance. If you would like to speak with someone about your studies and/or wellbeing, you can talk to your personal tutor or to the Departmental Tutor.
The Writing Lab is a free service offered through the UCL Academic Communication Centre which runs workshops, tutorials and support sessions to enhance academic writing and research skills. The Writing Lab’s services are available for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the
Joint Faculties of Arts & Humanities and Social & Historical Sciences, the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, and Psychology & Language Sciences. They provide a range of support through 1-2-1 tutorials and group workshops, including writing retreats, to help you develop your writing skills. Learn more here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/writing-lab/
UCL have a team of expert wellbeing, disability and mental health staff who provide a safe, confidential, and non-judge mental space, in which you can discuss any issues that may be affecting your ability to study. All of their support services are free of charge and open to all UCL students of all levels. On their website you can find information about:
→ Mental health and wellbeing
→ Support for disabled students
→ Health care
→ Crisis support
→ Suicide prevention
And more. See: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/sup port-and-wellbeing-0
The UCL Students Union is the recognised representative channel between students and UCL and other external bodies. The Union provides a range of cultural, sporting and recreational activities and forums, including through clubs and societies (https://studentsunionucl.org/clubs-societ ies) and volunteering opportunities (https://studentsunionucl.org/volunteering). It also promotes the interests and welfare of UCL students. The UCL Student Union provides specialist advice on four main areas of student life: hous ing, employment, academic, and money & debt. We en courage you to use these resources and to participate in the life of the Student Union and societies alongside your studies. Find out more: https://studentsunionucl.org/advice-and-support
We believe that bullying, harassment and sexual miscon duct are never okay. We hope you are never placed in a position where you need to use this, but all UCL students and staff can report bullying, harassment and sexual
anonymously, or with their contact details here:
UCL Careers provides a wide variety of careers informa tion, one-to-one guidance and events for UCL students and recent graduates, and assists them through the entire job-hunting process, including exploring options, searching for vacancies, preparing CVs and applications, practicing for interviews, aptitude tests or assessment centres, and providing access to recruitment fairs and other employ ment-related events. They can also advise on exploring options for further study and funding. These specialised services and events are available to graduates, interna tional students and Masters students for up to two years following programme completion.
UCL Careers also supports work-related learning, including internships and placements. UCL students who are required to complete a placement or internship as part of certain programmes are supported in their search, application, and work by UCL Careers. Students can also sign up for UCL Talent Bank, a shortlisting service connecting students to small and medium sized organisations.
The UCL Alumni Online Community is a global network of more than 200,000 former students of UCL. Alumni can take advantage of a wide range of benefits, services and discounts – on campus, across the UK and globally – including the Alumni Card, access to thousands of e-journals and library services and a free UCL-branded email service. The UCL Alumni Online Community also posts information about events and reunions happening around the world and other ways to get involved, including the UCL Connect professional development series.
ALFAMA, LISBON. JOE PENNY 2017
These timetables capture the main Core and Pathway modules on the MASc Global Urbanism programme. They do not include any electives you may choose to take. They are accurate at the time of printing (September 2022) but are subject to change. Students must regularly check Moodle and their UCL email accounts for any programme changes.
The timetables do not include subject or personal tutorials. The individual tutors will arrange these with the students. You can find customisable online timetables here: https://timetable.ucl.ac.uk/tt/homePage.do
UCL Urban Laboratory organises a range of activities throughout the year, including guest lectures, workshops, symposia, salons, and other events. These will be pro grammed so that they do not conflict with the regular schedule of academic activities. They are not compulsory, but we would strongly encourage you to attend if you can!
Dr Nishat Awan, UCL Urban Laboratory, Graduate Tutor
Situated between art and architectural practice, Nishat’s research and writing explores the relationship between geopolitics and space through a focus on migration and displacement. She is interested in forms of spatial represen tation, particularly in relation to the digital and the limits of witnessing as a form of ethical engagement with distant places. Currently, she leads the ERC funded project, Topological Atlas, which aims to produce visual counter-geogra phies of the fragile movements of migrants as they encounter the security apparatus of the border. She is the author of Diasporic Agencies (Routledge, 2016) and co-author of Spatial Agency (Routledge, 2011).
Dr Kara Blackmore, UCL Urban Laboratory, Curator of the UCL Urban Room
Dr Kara Blackmore is an anthropologist and curator who specialises in community-driven exhibition making. She has realised inno vative collaborations between educational institutions, government agencies, NGOs, and
cultural organisations. She brings an ethics of care to her work that is inspired by decolonial methodologies. Kara is excited to be working with the Urban Lab and across UCL to deliver impactful exhibitions. She hopes to inspire students to experiment in the new space on our East campus.
Professor Ben Campkin, The Bartlett School of Architecture & UCL Urban Laboratory
Co-Director
Ben is a transdisciplinary urbanist whose research focuses on how cities change, how the past, present and future are imagined and communicated in the process, and how the out comes benefit or disadvantage specific groups. He is Professor of Urbanism and Urban History, one of the UCL East Academic Leads, and Co-Director of the UCL Urban Laboratory. Ben’s publications include Remaking London: Decline and Regeneration in Urban Culture (I.B. Tauris, 2013), which won the 2015 Urban Communi cation Foundation Jane Jacobs Award. He has recently completed Queer Premises: LGBTQ+ Venues in London Since the 1980s (Bloomsbury,
forthcoming 2023). Ben is the UK principal investigator on the EU project Night-spaces: Migration, Culture and Integration in Europe (2019–23) which examines how night-spaces are imagined, produced and experienced in eight cities. He was UCL Co-Principal Investi gator for the EU-funded Urban Lab+ initiative (2013–15), a partnership with the Centre for Urbanism and Built Environment Studies, Uni versity of the Witwatersrand.
Clare is an anthropologist working at the intersection of architecture and urbanism, with a focus on how urban heritage shapes the futures of postcolonial cities connected across global networks. She is co-lead of the research cluster Curating the City in the UCL/University of Gothenburg Centre for Critical Heritage Stud ies, institutional lead for UCL in Heritopolis, the international UN-Habitat UNI MetroHub Consor tium on Heritage and Metropolis, and depart mental co-lead for Urban Lab’s participation in Urban Agency III, the international network of urban research centres led by University of Antwerp Urban Studies Institute.
Joining the Urban Lab in late 2020, Sophie holds an MA in Cultural Heritage Studies from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, funded by the AHRC. She has worked for international organ isations such as the British Council and UNE SCO World Heritage Centre managing cultural development projects in Oman and Afghani stan, as well as grass roots NGOs in Palestine and the UK. Sophie is a member of the Music Futures working group and plays violin with the Peckham Chamber Orchestra.
My research focuses on the political, spatial and social-cultural aspects of urban sustain ability transitions from a long term perspective. I approach this work from an interdisciplinary lens drawing on insights from the sustainability transitions literature, the mobilities field, urban studies and science and technology studies.
Empirically, I analyse urban mobility practices with a special focus on commuting by bicycle. I am the principal convenor of the research network, African Urban Mobilities: Past, Present and Future (AUM). The AUM brings together researchers from a range of disciplinary per ceptiveness to examine contemporary urban mobility phenomenon on the African continent in the context of longer historical processes.
Joe is a lecturer in the UCL Urban Laboratory. Joe’s research interests are in critical urban ge ography, urban political economy, and planning. More specifically, Joe examines three main themes in his research: 1) the restructuring of urban governance under conditions of aus terity; 2) the financialisation of the local state, public land, and housing; and 3) the nature and dynamics of urban politics and democracy. He has published in Antipode, Environment and Planning D: Society & Space, International Jour nal of Urban and Regional Resarch and Urban Geography. He is also the social media editor of the journal Urban Geography
Professor Jennifer Robinson, UCL Geography & UCL Urban Laboratory Co-Director
Jennifer Robinson is Professor of Human Geog raphy at University College London and co-Di rector of UCL’s Urban Laboratory. Previously she has worked at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the LSE and the Open University. Her book, Ordinary Cities (Routledge, 2006) developed a post-colonial critique of urban studies. Her new book, Comparative Urbanism: Tactics for Global Urban Studies (Wiley-Blackwell, 2022), propos es new methodological foundations for urban studies. Earlier empirical research explored the history of apartheid cities, and the politics of post-apartheid city-visioning. Current empirical projects focus on the politics of large-scale urban developments (London, Johannesburg, Shanghai) and the transnational circuits shap ing African urbanisation (Accra, Dar es Salaam, Lilongwe).
Dr Pablo Sendra, Bartlett School of Planning Pablo is an architect and urban designer. He is an Associate Professor at The Bartlett School of Planning, UCL. He combines his academic career with professional work through his own urban design practice, LUGADERO LTD, which focuses on facilitating co-design processes with communities. At UCL, he is the Director of the MSc Urban Design and City Planning Programme and the Coordinator of the Civic Design CPD. He has carried out action-research projects in collaboration with activists and communities. He is co-author of Designing Disorder (with Richard Sennett, 2020), which has been translated into 8 languages, co-au thor of Community-Led Regeneration (with Daniel Fitzpatrick, 2020) and co-editor of Civic Practices (with Maria Joao Pita and CivicWise, 2017). He is part of the City Collective for the journal City. At the MASc Global Urbanism, he will co-ordinating the East London Lab module with Ben Campkin.
CHEONGGYECHEON RIVER, SEOUL. JOE PENNY 2018
