City Studies

Faculty List

Associate Chair: Ahmed Allahwala
Program Advisor: Benjamin Pottruff Email: cit-advisor@utsc.utoronto.ca

A pre-professional Major Program for students interested in career paths that may be city-related. Students acquire a combination of conceptual, methodological, and critical skills relevant in a variety of professional fields including city planning, real estate development, transportation, housing, community development, urban governance, and city management. The Major Program in City Studies is multidisciplinary: it is designed to give students the opportunity to see how they might apply ideas about cities from the social sciences and kindred disciplines in their field of professional interest. The Program also offers preparation for students interested in pursuing graduate education in a field of study related to cities.

Guidelines for 1st year course selection
Students intending to complete a program in City Studies should take at least 1.0 full credit from the courses listed in Requirement 1 of the Major Program in City Studies within their first 4.0 credits.

City Studies Programs

MAJOR PROGRAM IN CITY STUDIES (ARTS)

Guidelines for Major Program Completion
The City Studies curriculum has three areas of concentration: (1) City-Building, (2) Community Development and (3) City Governance.

Major students are welcome to take courses in more than one area of concentration and are encouraged to take at least three of the City Studies core courses, CITB02H3 Foundations of City Studies (required for all Major students in City Studies), CITB01H3 Canadian Cities and Planning, CITB03H3 Social Planning and Community Development, CITB04H3 City Politics, or CITB08H3 Economy of Cities. These core courses cover foundational concepts of the program and are considered essential preparation for upper level courses:

City Building	Community Development	City Governance
CITC03H3 Real Estate and the City CITC04H3 Municipal and Planning Law in Ontario CITC14H3 Environmental Planning CITC18H3 Transportation Policy Analysis	CITC01H3 Urban Communities and Neighbourhoods Case Study CITC02H3 Learning in Community Service CITC07H3 Urban Social Policy CITC08H3 Cities and Community Development	CITC12H3 City Structures and City Choices: Local Government, Management, and Policymaking CITC15H3 Taxing and Spending: Public Finance in Canadian Cities CITC16H3 Planning and Governing the Metropolis CITC17H3 Civic Engagement in Urban Politics

Note: It is Department policy that students without the prerequisite will be removed from the course. Students should carefully check the prerequisites required for particular B-and C-level courses.

Note: That some upper-level courses (e.g. SOC and ECM) are part of limited enrolment programs, with first preference in these courses going to students enrolled in those programs.

Program Requirements
This program requires a total of 7.0 full credits.

1. Introduction to Social Science Thought (1.0 full credit from among the following):
   ANTA01H3 Introduction to Anthropology: Becoming Human
   ANTA02H3 Introduction to Anthropology: Culture, Society and Language
   POLA51H3 Critical Issues of Canadian Democracy
   POLA83H3 Exploring Globalization
   POLA84H3 Globalization and Governance
   SOCA01H3 Introduction to Sociology I
   SOCA02H3 Introduction to Sociology II
   GGRA02H3 The Geography of Global Processes
   GGRA03H3 Cities and Environments
   [MGEA01H3/(ECMA01H3) Introduction to Microeconomics or MGEA02H3/(ECMA04H3) Introduction to Microeconomics: A Mathematical Approach]
   [MGEA05H3/(ECMA05H3) Introduction to Macroeconomics or MGEA06H3/(ECMA06H3) Introduction to Macroeconomics: A Mathematical Approach]
   
   
2. Core courses (1.5 full credits including)
   CITB02H3 Foundations of City Studies
   and
   1.0 credits from among the following:
   CITB01H3 Canadian Cities and Planning
   CITB03H3 Social Planning and Community Development
   CITB04H3 City Politics
   CITB08H3 Economy of Cities
   
   
3. City Studies Fundamentals of (at least 1.5 full credits from among the following):
   DTSB01H3 Introduction to Diaspora and Transnational Studies I
   DTSB02H3 Introduction to Diaspora and Transnational Studies II
   [EESA05H3 Environmental Hazards or EESA06H3 Introduction to Planet Earth]
   GGRB05H3 Urban Geography
   GGRB13H3 Social Geography
   GGRB28H3 Geographies of Disease
   POLB50Y3 Canadian Government and Politics
   SOCB44H3 Sociology of Cities and Urban Life
   WSTB12H3 Women, Violence and Resistance
   
   
4. Methods  (1 full credit from among the following):
   STAB22H3 Statistics I
   [GGRA30H3 GIS and Empirical Reasoning or
   EESC03H3 Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing]
   
   
5. Applications (at least 2.0 full credits from among the following):
   ANTC40H3 Methods and Analysis in Anthropological Demography
   CITC01H3 Urban Communities and Neighbourhoods Case Study: East Scarborough
   CITC02H3 Learning In Community Service
   CITC03H3 Real Estate and the City
   CITC04H3 Municipal and Planning Law in Ontario
   CITC07H3 Urban Social Policy
   CITC08H3 Cities and Community Development
   CITC10H3 Selected Issues in City Studies
   CITC12H3 City Structures and City Choices: Local Government, Management, and Policy Making
   CITC14H3 Environmental Planning
   CITC15H3 Taxing and Spending: Public Finance in Canadian Cities
   CITC16H3 Planning and Governing the Metropolis
   CITC17H3 Civic Engagement in Municipal Politics
   CITC18H3 Urban Transportation Policy Analysis
   CITC40H3 Megacities and Global Urbanization
   CITD01H3 City Issues and Strategies
   EESC21H3 Urban Environmental Problems of the Greater Toronto Area 
   GGRC02H3 Population Geography
   GGRC04H3 Urban Residential Geography
   GGRC13H3 Urban Political Geography
   GGRC27H3 Location and Spatial Development
   GGRC33H3 The Toronto Region
   GGRD09H3 Feminist Geographies
   POLC53H3 Canadian Environmental Politics
   POLC66H3 Public Policy Making
   POLC67H3 Public Policy in Canada
   SOCC03H3 Collective Behaviour
   SOCC04H3 Social Movements
   SOCC26H3 Sociology of Urban Growth
   WSTC14H3 Women, Community, and Policy Change
   WSTC20H3 Women and Environments

MAJOR (CO-OPERATIVE) PROGRAM IN CITY STUDIES (ARTS)

Co-op Contact: askcoop@utsc.utoronto.ca
Graduates will receive an Honours B.A. degree wherein they must combine the Major (Co-operative) Program in City Studies with one of the following:

• Major Program in Anthropology
• Major Program in Economics for Management
• Major Program in Environmental Science
• Major Program in History
• Major Program in Human Geography
• Major Program in Political Science
• Major Program in Public Policy
• Major Program in Sociology
• Major Program in Studio
• Major Program in Women's and Gender Studies

The Program is intended to complement the chosen academic discipline and to give students the opportunity to see how they might apply ideas from that discipline in their field of professional interest.

For information on admissions, fees, work terms and standing in the Program, please see the Co-operative Programs section of this Calendar.

Program Admission
Prospective Applicants: For direct admission from secondary school or for students who wish to transfer to UTSC from another U of T faculty or from another post-secondary institution, see the Co-operative Programs section in this Calendar.
Current U of T Scarborough students: Application procedures can be found at the Registrar's Office website: www.utsc.utoronto.ca/subjectpost. The minimum qualifications for entry are 4.0 credits including 1.0 from the courses listed in Requirement 1 of the Major Program in City Studies plus a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5.

Program Requirements
The Major (Co-operative) Program in City Studies combines academic studies in various disciplines with work terms in private enterprise, the public sector, or non-governmental organizations. It includes all of the requirements of the Major Program listed above. In addition, students must successfully complete the non-credit Arts & Science Co-op Work Term Preparation activities and two work terms.

Work Terms
Students must satisfactorily complete two work terms, each of four-months duration. To be eligible for the first work term, students must have completed at least 10 full credits, including 5 full credits as a U of T Scarborough student. These must include at least one full credit drawn from each of areas 1 (Introduction to Social Science Thought), 2 (Core Courses),  3 (Fundamentals of City Studies), and 4 (Methods). Students must also successfully complete Arts & Science Co-op Work Term Preparation Activities, which include multiple networking sessions, speaker panels and industry tours along with seminars covering resumes, cover letters, job interviews and work term expectations, prior to their first work term. Students are advised that being available for work terms during fall and winter may increase the variety of work available, and this in turn requires students to take courses during at least one summer session.

City Studies Courses

CITB01H3    Canadian Cities and Planning

After reviewing the history of urban and regional planning in Canada, this course considers alternative ideologies, models of public choice, the role of the planner, the instruments of planning, tools for the analysis of planning, and planning in the context of the space economy.
Prerequisite: Any 4.0 credits.
Exclusion: (GGRB06H3)
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITB02H3    Foundations of City Studies

A review of the major characteristics and interpretations of cities, urban processes and urban change as a foundation for the Program in City Studies. Ideas from disciplines including Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Planning, Political Science and Sociology, are examined as ways of understanding cities.
Prerequisite: Any 4.0 credits.
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITB03H3    Social Planning and Community Development

This course provides an overview of the history, theory, and politics of community development and social planning as an important dimension of contemporary urban development and change.
Prerequisite: Any 4.0 credits.
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITB04H3    City Politics

This course is the foundations course for the city governance concentration in the City Studies program, and provides an introduction to the study of urban politics with particular emphasis on different theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding urban decision-making, power, and conflict.
Prerequisite: Any 4.0 credits
Enrolment Limits: 150
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITB08H3    Economy of Cities

An introduction to economic analysis of cities, topics include: theories of urban economic growth; the economics of land use, urban structure, and zoning; the economics of environments, transportation, and sustainability; public finance, cost-benefit analysis, the provision of municipal goods and services, and the new institutional economics.
Prerequisite: Any 4.0 credits.
Enrolment Limits: 150
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC01H3    Urban Communities and Neighbourhoods Case Study: East Scarborough

This course engages students in a case study of some of the issues facing urban communities and neighbourhoods today. Students will develop both community-based and academic research skills by conducting research projects in co-operation with local residents and businesses, non-profit organizations, and government actors and agencies.
Prerequisite: CITB02H3 and an additional 0.5 credit at the B-level in CIT courses; and permission of instructor.
Exclusion: GGRC41H3 if taken in the 2008 Fall Session
Enrolment Limits: 30
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC02H3    Learning in Community Service

This will be a service learning course based in Scarborough communities in which students learn about community issues first-hand by volunteering for community based organizations. Student evaluation will be based on completion of volunteer hours and grading of student journals that will: 1. Describe the service work, and 2. Reflect on the service work and relate it to lectures and required readings.
Prerequisite: CITB01H3 & CITB02H3 & permission of instructor
Recommended Preparation: CITC01H3
Enrolment Limits: 30

CITC03H3    Real Estate and the City

Operation of property markets; cities as markets in land and structures; stocks of property and flows of accommodation service; location of industry, offices and retailing within the city; rental and owner-occupied housing; depreciation and maintenance; cyclical behaviour in metropolitan property markets; impacts of local government; property taxation.
Prerequisite: [GGRB02H3 and GGRB05H3] or [CITB01H3 and CITB02H3] or [[MGEB01H3/(ECMB01H3) or MGEB02H3/(ECMB02H3)] and [MGEB05H3/(ECMB05H3) or MGEB06H3/(ECMB06H3)]]
Exclusion: (GGRB10H3)
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC04H3    Municipal and Planning Law in Ontario

Constitutional authority, municipal corporations, official plans, zoning bylaws, land subdivision and consents, development control, deed restrictions and common interest developments, Ontario Municipal Board.
Prerequisite: CITB01H3, CITB02H3
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC07H3    Urban Social Policy

In recent years social policy has been rediscovered as a key component of urban governance. This course examines the last half-century of evolving approaches to social policy and urban inequality, with particular emphasis on the Canadian urban experience. Major issues examined are poverty, social exclusion, labour market changes, housing, immigration and settlement.
Prerequisite: CITB02H3 and an additional 0.5 credit from among the CIT B-level core courses.
Exclusion: CITC10H3 if taken in the 2011 Winter session
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC08H3    Cities and Community Development

An examination of community development as the practice of citizens and community organizations to empower individuals and groups to improve the social and economic wellbeing of their communities and neighbourhoods. The course will consider different approaches to community development and critically discuss their potential for positive urban social change.
Prerequisite: CITB02H3 and an additional 0.5 credit from among the CIT B-level core courses.
Enrolment Limits: 30
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC10H3    Selected Issues in City Studies

Examination of one or more current issues in cities. The specific issues will vary depending on the instructor.
Prerequisite: CITB02H3 and an additional 0.5 credit from among the CIT B-level core courses.
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC12H3    City Structures and City Choices: Local Government, Management, and Policymaking

This course examines the structure of local government, how local Government is managed, how policy decisions are made. Viewing Canadian cities in comparative perspective, topics include the organization and authority of the mayor, council, civic bureaucracy, and special-purpose bodies, and their roles in the making and implementation of public policies; ethical and conflict-of-interest dilemmas; collective bargaining; and provincial oversight of municipal affairs.
Prerequisite: At least one (1.0) full credit at the B-level in either City Studies, or Human Geography, or Political Science, or Sociology, or Management. Priority will be given to students in City Studies.
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC14H3    Environmental Planning

This course introduces students to questions of urban ecology and environmental planning, and examines how sustainability and environmental concerns can be integrated into urban planning processes and practices.
Prerequisite: CITB02H3 and an additional 0.5 credits from among CIT B-level core courses
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC15H3    Taxing and Spending: Public Finance in Canadian Cities

The course examines Canadian local public finance in comparative perspective and discusses the implications of municipal finance for urban public policy, planning, and the provision of municipal services. Topics include local government revenue sources and expenditures, the politics of municipal bugeting and intergovernmental fiscal relations, and how public finance influences urban form.
Prerequisite: At least one (1.0) full credit at the B-level in either City Studies, or Human Geography, or Political Science, or Sociology, or Management. Priority will be given to students in City Studies.
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC16H3    Planning and Governing the Metropolis

Most of the world's population now lives in large urban regions. How such metropolitan areas should be planned and governed has been debated for over a century. Using examples, this course surveys and critically evaluates leading historical and contemporary perspectives on metropolitan planning and governance, and highlights the institutional and political challenges to regional coordination and policy development.
Prerequisite: At least one (1.0) full credit at the B-level in either City Studies, or Human Geography, or Political Science, or Sociology, or Management. Priority will be given to students in City Studies.
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC17H3    Civic Engagement in Urban Politics

This course examines the engagement of citizen groups, neighbourhood associations, urban social movements, and other non-state actors in urban politics, planning, and governance. The course will discuss the contested and selective insertion of certain groups into city-regional decision-making processes and structures.
Prerequisite: CITB02H3 and an additional 0.5 credit from among CIT B-level core courses
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC18H3    Urban Transportation Policy Analysis

Demand forecasting; methodology of policy analysis; impacts on land values, urban form and commuting; congestion; transit management; regulation and deregulation; environmental impacts and safety.
Prerequisite: University-level half-credit in data analysis & GGRB02H3 and one of CITB01H3, MGEB01H3/(ECMB01H3), MGEB02H3/(ECMB02H3), GGRB05H3, (GGRB06H3), (GGRB27H3), GGRC27H3
Exclusion: GGR324H, (GGRC18H3)
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITC40H3    Megacities and Global Urbanization

The last 50 years have seen dramatic growth in the global share of population living in megacities over 10 million population, with most growth in the global south. Such giant cities present distinctive infrastructure, health, water supply, and governance challenges, which are increasingly central to global urban policy and health.
Same as GGRC40H3
Prerequisite: [GGRB02H3 and GGRB05H3] or [CITB02H3 and an additional 0.5 credit at the B-level in CIT courses]
Exclusion: GGRC40H3
Enrolment Limits: 60
Breadth Requirement: Social & Behavioural Sciences

CITD01H3    City Issues and Strategies

This course is designed as a culminating City Studies course in which participants are able to showcase the application of their research skills, and share their professional and disciplinary interests in a common case study. Lectures and guests will introduce conceptual frameworks, core questions and conflicts. Students will be expected to actively participate in discussions and debates, and produce shared research resources. Each student will prepare a substantial research paper as a final project.
Prerequisite: Completion of the Major Program in City Studies requirements (1) Introduction to Social Science Thought, (3) Fundamentals of City Studies, & (4) Methods.
Enrolment Limits: 25