AB975

Seminar 1: Limits to Growth: Cities and Economies

When: Friday 12th November (11.00hrs – 13.00hrs)

Where: On Zoom

Who: The class has been divided into 12 discussion groups (A – L).
There will be 6 simultaneous seminar sessions).

What: The seminar paper and reference material will be available on

class MyPlace site. Having reviewed these, you are invited to
discuss the bullet points with members of your own group
online within the ‘Group Discussion Sessions’ area on the
class MyPlace site. In advance of the seminar sessions on
Zoom you are being asked to develop an agreed group position
in your own group by sharing your views, as future engineers,
architects, and urban designers from various backgrounds, on
the following:

▪ The ‘Classical’ free-market approach to economics

▪ Developing nations as “growth engines”
▪ The notion of “growth illusion” and the “real cost of
growth”
▪ The ecological footprint of cities and their carrying
capacity
▪ Urban environmental problems

How: On the day there will be group-to-group seminar sessions taking

place simultaneously (you’ll find a link to your groups’ session
on Myplace). During the sessions each discussion group will be
articulating their previously agreed position and trying to
convince the others of the robustness of their views. By the
end it is expected that you will have reached some consensus
on the points. A volunteer from each seminar session should
record the position reached against each bullet point and
upload a summary document (in bullet points only) in the
‘Seminar Summaries Area’.

Why: A discursive approach to reviewing the material will help

promote a deeper understanding. Articulating agreed positions
and challenging the views of others will help promote reflection.
With regard to other aspects of class assessment - quiz
questions will be based on the topics being discussed, so the
discussions will be of benefit to all.

Dr David Grierson