Cursos / 1º Ciclo / Faculty of Architecture and Arts :: Architecture ( Integrated Master)

CIDADE E TERRITÓRIO - 2025/2026

4º curricular year
Semestralidade: 2nd semester
ECTS: 2

Teachers

Leading Teacher: Prof. Doutor Jorge Amaral

Class type and School hours

Teórico-prática : 2 Horas

Teaching Language

Portuguese

Main Aims/Objectives

The Urban and Territory Curricular Unit aims to enable students to comprehend the complexity of urban and territorial dynamics, as well as to provide a critical and proactive vision of how cities and territories are constructed and transformed.

Specific Aims/Objectives

Critically understand the different theoretical currents and their historical and social applications in city planning and design, from urban utopias to more contemporary approaches.
Analyze the complex interactions between social, economic, political, and cultural factors that shape and structure the life of cities and territory.

Skills to be acquired

Demonstrate critical thinking regarding the causes and consequences of problems related to current urban territories.
Develop the ability to conceive informed and innovative project strategies and solutions for specific urban and territorial problems, considering different scales of intervention.

Teaching Procedures

In theoretical classes, content will be presented, interspersed with moments of discussion and analysis of examples.
Encourage active student participation through questions, sharing perspectives, experiences, and analyzing relevant articles and texts.

Programme

Module 1: Metropolis: 1882-1933 (3 weeks)
1.1. Epistemology of the Metropolis
1.2. The Metropolis of Sociologists: Chicago School, Georg Simmel, Max Weber;
1.3. The Metropolis of Historians: Marcel Poete, Pierre Lavedan, Lewis Mumford;
1.4. The Metropolis of Architects: Camillo Sitte, Raymond Unwin, Le Corbusier.
1.5. The Metropolis of Geography / Urban Planning: Milton Santos, Castells
1.6. The Metropolis of Economics: Alfred Marshall - agglomeration economies (theoretical basis). Doctrines of business systematization (Taylorism and Fordism).

Module 2: Megalopolis: 1939-1979 (2 weeks)
2.1. Epistemology of megalopolises.
2.2. The megalopolis of sociologists; Herbert Gans, Jane Jacobs, Henri Lefebvre;
2.3. The megalopolis of historians: Harold J. Dyos, Colin Rowe, Manfredo Tafuri;
2.4. The megalopolis of architects: Josep Luis Sert, Kevin Lynch, Aldo Rossi
2.5. Megalopolis of Geography; -Jean Gottmann
2.6. The Megalopolis through the lens of economics – Paul Krugman, spatial concentration and dispersion; New Economic Geography. Masahisa Fujita - formal models of city-regions and polycentrism.

Module 3: Metapolis: 1979-2007 (4 weeks)
3.1. Epistemology of the Metapolis
3.2. The Metapolis of Sociologists: Manuel Castells; Saskia Sassen, Mike Davis;
3.3. The Metapolis of Historians: Dolores Heyden, Anthony Sucliffe, Anthony D. King;
3.4. The Metapolis of Architects: Robert Venturi, Rem Koolhaas, Bernardo Secchi;
3.5. The Metapolis of Urbanism - François Ascher - Networks of metropolises; intense flows of capital, labor, and information.
3.6. The Metapolis of Geographers – Transgenic landscape. De-ruralization, the phenomenon of urbanization.
3.7. The Metapolis through Economics - Edward Glaeser - human capital, urban productivity, and urban networks. Richard Florida - creative economy and networked urban territories.

Module 4: Alternatives (3 weeks)
4.1. New epistemologies for contemporary urbanism; Josep Maria Montaner;
4.2. Institutional culture and civil society; Jordi Borja;
4.3. Towards a critical and alternative culture, from experience and activism; Lorenzo Rocha;
4.4. Humanization of urban space; Jan Gehl
4.5. For the right to the city: Carlos Moreno
4.6. Gentrification, Slow Cities, Edge Cities and The New Urban Agenda (Habitat III)

Evaluation Type

Attendance, active participation in classes, and proactive debate on the topics covered in each session will be taken into account.
Continuous assessment will also include two individual tests (100%), according to the academic calendar. The fundamental institutional assessment moments will also be fulfilled: the Midterm Exam and the Final Exam (100%).

Teaching Resources

To achieve the required objectives and competencies, the following didactic resources will be used:
Specialized bibliography available in the Lusíada University media library and library;
Reading of texts and articles for deepening themes;
Projection of documentaries and films to illustrate and discuss the addressed themes.

Sustainability Objectives

Make cities and communities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. The three pillars of sustainability in city growth: economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Reduce the adverse environmental impact of cities, paying special attention to waste management and energy consumption.
Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 (SDGs) to frame current concerns and discussion between the economic and the urban, the city and the environment/territory.

Keywords

Metropolis;
Megalopolis;
Metapolis.

Main Bibliography

Complementary Bibliography