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Urban Megaprojects and Environmental Impacts

The political embrace of city competition internationally has combined with the globalization of banking, real estate development, and architecture to make Urban Megaprojects seemingly inevitable. With the world economy slowed, it is time to delve into the motivation for and consequences (including environmental impacts) of the now-ubiquitous and globally-entrenched Urban Megaprojects. The aim of this course is to understand the causes and consequences of new scales and forms of territorial restructuring in a steadily globalizing world by focusing on Urban Megaproject development. Case studies from cities such as Bilbao, Budapest, Abu Dhabi, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Mexico City will be presented in an interdisciplinary approach including sociology, planning, architecture, and environmental impacts. Individual term papers on case studies will be presented to class with powerpoint.

3 credits. Prerequisite: instructor's approval

Course Code: CE 486

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.