Simultaneously taught via e-connection of the HeraKlion and the Rethymnon Campus Friday 09.00-11.00, Course Instructor: Prof. V. Arapoglou, Department of Sociology

Course page: https://elearn.uoc.gr/course/index.php?categoryid=149

The 21st century has been described as a century of cities: 2008 has been a turning point, it is the first time in history that most people on the planet live in cities (UN Sustainable Cities goal and World Urbanization Prospects 2019). By 2100 about 85% of the earth’s population will be living in cities,
meaning the planet will be fully urbanized. Urbanization and the urban way of life are inexorably linked to new environmental, economic and social challenges. Firstly, urbanization is evolving rapidly no longer in Europe and North America but in South America, Asia and Africa, changing the hierarchies and relationships between the Global North and the Global South. Secondly, environmental, economic and social vulnerabilities within cities are interwoven and tend to concentrate in specific areas. Thirdly, urbanism as a way of life is not in itself the cause of environmental threats but may also shape some of the best responses to them. The course will help students to understand critically the “new urban question” and the answers to it: How will urban development and living can be sustainable and just, and how can they change the history of the planet?