Urban Life/Urban Culture

Question:

To what extent are the residential areas of the rich and poor separated in Australian cities? Are people disadvantaged when they live in poor neighbourhoods or suburbs? How and why? Should governments promote ‘social mixing’ by breaking down residential concentrations of affluence and poverty? How can this be achieved?

Aims/Objectives

It aims to develop students’ ability to respond to a question about an urban problem; to search and review relevant literature; to discuss key concepts in relation to historical and contemporary examples; and to undertake critical scholarly writing.

Assessment Description

In 2000 words you must answer this question using your independent research and analysis and incorporate with the readings given to you below.

Assessment Requirements

• Provide a clear answer to their chosen question.
• Write concisely and clearly with sound grammar, syntax, punctuation and spelling.
• At least six academic sources will be used as references.
• All ideas, quotations and other information will be correctly referenced.
• The writing here will not be purely descriptive. Students will undertake critical analysis.

Assessment Criteria

• Provide a clear response that demonstrates an understanding of the essay question they have chosen.
• Make correct use of concepts from the course.
• Make use of examples and evidence to support their arguments
• Undertake independent searches for/ reading of academic sources and correctly reference these sources
• Clearly and concisely.

Readings

1. Spearritt, Peter (1978). Sydney since the twenties. Sydney: Hale and Iremonger.
2. B.Gleeson (2006) ‘Siege of the Realm’ in Australian Heartlands. Making Space for Hope in the Suburbs (Allen and Unwin, Sydney)
3. Connell, John (2000) Sydney. The Emergence of a World City (Oxford University Press, Melbourne)
4. G.Gwyther (2006) ‘The allure of the master planned community on Sydney’s urban fringe’ in R.Freestone, B.Randolph and C.Butler-Bowden (eds) Talking About Sydney. Population, Community and Culture in Contemporary Sydney (UNSW Press)