GGRA03H3 Lecture : Lecture 1
Document Summary
This lecture, apart from introducing the assignments, focused on 5 main conceptual frameworks that are introduced in the course: cities as the human environment. The city // nature dualism is mistaken, and the term environment" does not equal "nature" or "wilderness". The environment and nature include cities and people. Modernist ideas that equated progress with technology and "overcoming nature", by creating well-built urban systems have had powerful and lasting impacts on our society. Now cities are increasingly seen as complex ecological systems, in which economic, social, natural, and political systems interact. Cities in this view are the most complex and lasting creations of human civilization - they are the fundamental human ecosystem. A major goal of this course is to learn to understand cities as human environments: More on this in lectures 2, 3 and 4: why history is important, understanding long-term patterns.
