Comparative City History is a broad-ranging thematic course that aims to explore some crucial aspects of the urban history through time providing a wide set of case studies. The course explores cities’ history through cross-cutting topics by analysing processes of urban developments in a wide geographical and cultural framework and in a long-term perspective. Facing to the general trend of globalisation of cities, this course focuses on comparativeness between cities for identifying common parallel dynamics at the same periods by an historical approach. The aim is to analyse the process of changes at certain periods by enlightening peculiarities and specificities of single cities at the same time. The course will investigate specific themes as representative of the turn of urban history by key case studies. The chronology deals from the ancient to contemporary cities. Case studies will be analysed in a comparative perspective for mapping general/specific urban phenomena. Traces of those stories will also be identified in the current cities by focusing on related memories and cultural heritage. Although the focus will be on the European area, case studies will also include certain cities outside Europe. The purpose will be to introduce more factors of comparativeness in meaningful cultural areas for transmission of models. On one hand the course will analyse both the built environment and open spaces by focusing on some specific urban settings. On the other hand, the social and cultural impact of urban changes will be explored. This impact will be discussed taking into account also some criteria of sustainable developments by focusing on gender aspects, inequalities, gentrification, resilience as well as consequences of governance on the urban development. The methodology of teaching will strongly encourage students’ interaction.

The student will gain an appropriate methodology and terminology, using the most important concepts and approaches of the historical disciplines in an updated and critical way, about a wide diachronic range. At the end of the course, students will be able to use in operational terms the critical knowledge which they have gained (i.e.: ability to read, interpret and set up historical analysis of the city, to identify the range of documentation available at different periods, and to recognise the historical context of main urban transformation processes, and to link them to the notion of cultural heritage). Students will acquire multiple knowledge and skills concerning in particular: − The formal and functional characters of a historic urban structure; − The ability to recognize the historical characters of city development; − The tools for the interpretation of the historical townplanning; − The knowledge of cities in history and the relation between urbanisation and social and economic developments in and beyond Europe; − The knowledge of important historical, social and economical questions, debates and concepts on urban history; − How to identify and recognise distinctive and comparable elements of peculiarities on a solid history based knowledge and methodology; By the end of the course student should organise and use relatively large amounts of information and reflect critically on knowledge and understanding as presented in academic literature. Students should also have gained a clear sense of the making of the historic environments and their cultural value.

The student must have acquired in previous training skills and knowledge mainly related to: the basic technical elements of architecture and urban planning, the basic concepts of urban history and history of architecture, the system of local institutions, the urban planning governance and the basic elements of urban sociology. Particularly, a basic understanding of history of the town in Western Europe and the Mediterranean basin is required, with some knowledge about the history of the main international cities. Also preliminary approach to urban history and to history of urban planning is welcome, in addition to the knowledge offered by the school education and the BA degree.

The course deals with the case studies to be analysed in comparative perspective from the Ancient to the contemporary age. The contents focus on specific topics presented through case studies and approached by a comparative synchronic or diachronic perspective. An introduction to comparative approach in urban history, critical approach to the terminology and definitions (“History of urbanism”, “History of the city” and “Urban history”) will be provided. Topics include capital cities, minorities and ethnic urban districts, urban image and its perception, gentrification of city centres, resilience in urban changes, relationships between political decisions and urban planning, mobility, public space and social housing, urban plural identities and cultural memories, as well exhibiting and sharing knowledge about cities (including city museums and new digital approach). All these themes will be surveyed by an historical approach and analysed at different periods.

The course will provide an optional visit to Biennale Architettura 2018 - 16th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice.

The course will include ex-cathedra lessons and seminars. A debate will follow each lesson. Experts will be invited to give lectures on specific matters. The course will also provide some guided visits in the Piedmont area. Students will be asked to participate, at their choice, to a special journey for visiting an urban heritage site, in Italy or abroad. During the seminars students will be asked to present, as a case study, an urban setting of their territory or country.

Bibliographical references will be specified step-by-step during the teaching course. The basic material (in the form of handouts and collections of documents) both for the lessons and exercises will be available, through the course web-portal. An introductory bibliography is established as follows; the knowledge of only some parts specifically indicated for the students will be required. Francesco Bandarin and Ron Van Oers, The historic urban landscape. Managing heritage in an urban century, Wiley-Backwell, Chichester 2012, pp. 1-73 Peter Clark, The Oxford Handbook of Cities in World History, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2013 Lewis Mumford, The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects, Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (1961) 1968

Modalità di esame: Prova scritta (in aula); Prova orale obbligatoria;

Exam: Written test; Compulsory oral exam;

... The exam will consist of a written and an oral test, with an evaluation on a 30 point scale. 1. The general part of the course will be the subject of a written test. The student will be asked to use a correct terminology and a critical approach, within the frame of up to date historiography. The written text will consist of three questions on the subjects discussed within the lessons (60%) and one optional question on the bibliography (10%). 2. The oral exam will consist of two questions, one concerning the personal deepening of a case-study, chosen by the student and presented at the exam (30%), one concerning the critical knowing of a text from the bibliography as an alternative to the optional question of the written text.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.