The main objective of this course is to train students to critically understand global urban phenomena while simultaneously expanding their methodological capacity in the social sciences, particularly in case study analysis. By attending this course, students are expected to grasp the relationship between a city's development and transformation and the globalizing forces that influence them. For the purposes of this course, globalizing forces are considered a heterogeneous set of phenomena that occur at various scales and impact contemporary cities in diverse ways—and are often, in turn, transformed by them. To understand how cities react and adapt to globalization, attention will be paid to the mechanisms at play, including resistance to globalization, its governance, and the emergence of tensions and conflicts. These socio-spatial phenomena will be understood and analyzed using concepts and methodologies from the social sciences, applied through a spatial/geographic perspective. Key learning outcomes include: - Deconstruct the political-economic and socio-spatial mechanics of contemporary global cities by applying key concepts such as neoliberal urbanism, entrepreneurial governance, gentrification, and urban informality. - Analyze the spatial and social impacts of emerging digital technologies by evaluating how algorithmic governance, smart-city corporate narratives, and platform economies reconfigure urban space and labor dynamics. - Synthesize diverse scholarly arguments from the essential reading list by constructing rigorous, text-based arguments that put different authors into critical dialogue under timed conditions. - Formulate a comprehensive urban case study by conducting group-based empirical research on a specific city grappling with global transitions. - Translate complex geographical data and theoretical concepts into a cohesive, multi-layered visual medium by designing an alternative digital or physical publication. - Execute an effective academic pitch by delivering a structured group presentation that communicates empirical findings and design choices clearly within a set timeframe.

There are no specific prerequisites for this course, as the knowledge acquired in previous MSc courses provides a sufficient foundation for attendance.

The course unfolds across two interconnected thematic streams, tracing the evolution of contemporary urban geography from classic critical frameworks to the digital and infrastructural frontiers of the platform era. The first half of the semester establishes the foundational theoretical scaffolding of global urbanism, focusing on the socio-spatial and political-economic reconfigurations of late-capitalist cities. Students will critically engage with the mechanics of neoliberal urbanism and the roll-out of the entrepreneurial city, examining how global capital flows dictate local urban policy and fuel aggressive processes of gentrification and displacement. This section further interrogates the concept of urban informality, shifting the analytical lens toward the global South to unpack how informal systems operate not as anomalies, but as central modalities of contemporary urbanization and everyday survival. The second half of the semester shifts directly into contemporary digital frontiers, examining how emerging technologies and automated infrastructures are actively rewriting urban space, statecraft, and labor dynamics. Students will deconstruct the corporate and state-led storytelling behind “smart city” initiatives and automated urbanism, analyzing how test-bed environments, algorithmic governance, and data-driven planning reconfigure surveillance and civic inclusion. This framework expands into the spatial political economy of the platform era, mapping the material footprints of logistical networks, the labor struggles embedded within gig-economy ecosystems, and the planetary communication infrastructures—such as data center hubs and energy grids—that anchor the digital economy in cities. By placing classic critical urban theory into direct dialogue with these cutting-edge infrastructural geographies, the unit equips students to diagnose the complex, uneven socio-spatial reconfigurations shaping the contemporary global metropolis.

The course is structured around five distinct pedagogical modalities: - Traditional Lectures: These sessions establish the core conceptual architecture of the course, providing the historical, political-economic, and geographical contexts necessary to understand global urban transformations. - Reading Seminars: These interactive sessions are dedicated to the collective discussion of the essential reading list, where students are expected to critically debate weekly texts, put different authors into conversation, and unpick assigned case studies. - Workshop Activities: Serving as the practical incubator for the course, these workshops provide dedicated studio time for attending students to collaborate in their collectives, workshop layout drafts, refine visual data mapping, and receive ongoing peer and instructor feedback for their Zine projects. - Targeted Skills Sessions: Interspersed throughout the semester, these technical blocks are explicitly designed to cultivate high-level academic proficiencies. They focus on analytical reading to decode dense theoretical texts efficiently, analytical writing to construct precise, rigorous arguments within strict word limits, and critical AI literacy, training students on the ethical, transparent, and methodologically sound integration of artificial intelligence tools in academic writing and research design. - Fieldtrip activities

The required references for the course are the following: Module 1: Urban geographies, global geographies Massey, D. (2002). Globalisation: What does it mean for geography?. Geography, 87(4), 293-296. Roy, A. (2016). What is urban about critical urban theory?. Urban Geography, 37(6), 810-823. date Module 2: Global cities, urban theory McNeill, D. (2016). Global Cities and Urban Theory. SAGE. [Introduction; Chapter 1: Centrality] Sassen, S. (2004). The global city: Introducing a concept. Brown J. World Aff., 11, 27-40. Module 3: Global urban geographies of… neoliberalism Parnell, S., & Robinson, J. (2012). (Re) theorizing cities from the Global South: Looking beyond neoliberalism. Urban geography, 33(4), 593-617. Peck, J., Theodore, N., & Brenner, N. (2013). Neoliberal urbanism redux?. International journal of urban and regional research, 37(3), 1091-1099. Theodore, N. (2020). Governing through austerity:(Il) logics of neoliberal urbanism after the global financial crisis. Journal of Urban Affairs, 42(1), 1-17. Module 4: Global urban geographies of… post-fordism Harvey, D. (1989). From managerialism to entrepreneurialism: the transformation in urban governance in late capitalism. Geografiska Annaler: series B, human geography, 71(1), 3-17. Vanolo, A. (2015). The Fordist city and the creative city: Evolution and resilience in Turin, Italy. City, Culture and Society, 6(3), 69-74. Module 5: Global urban geographies of… gentrification Lees, L. (2016). Gentrification, race, and ethnicity: Towards a global research agenda?. City & community, 15(3), 208-214. Zukin, S. (1987). Gentrification: culture and capital in the urban core. Annual review of sociology, 13(1), 129-147. Module 7: Global urban geographies of… informality Roy, A. (2009). Strangely familiar: Planning and the worlds of insurgence and informality. Planning theory, 8(1), 7-11. Roy, A. (2011). Slumdog cities: Rethinking subaltern urbanism. International journal of urban and regional research, 35(2), 223-238. Module 8: Global urban geographies of… smartness McNeill, D. (2015). Global firms and smart technologies: IBM and the reduction of cities. Transactions of the institute of British geographers, 40(4), 562-574. Söderström, O., Paasche, T., & Klauser, F. (2014). Smart cities as corporate storytelling. City, 18(3), 307-320. date Module 9: Global urban geographies of… the platform economy Grohmann, R. (2023). Not just platform, nor cooperatives: Worker-owned technologies from below. Communication, Culture & Critique, 16(4), 274-282. Soriano, C. R. R. (2026). Sachet capital: Platforms, labour and everyday transactions in the Philippines. Economy and Society, 1-25. Van Doorn, N. (2017). Platform labor: on the gendered and racialized exploitation of low-income service work in the ‘on-demand’economy. Information, communication & society, 20(6), 898-914. date Module 10: Global urban geographies of… AI Ferrari, F. (2023). Neural production networks: AI’s infrastructural geographies. Environment and Planning F, 2(4), 459-476. Iapaolo, F., & Lynch, C. R. (2026). Rethinking urban AI: a critical posthumanist perspective on intelligence, autonomy, and agency. Urban Geography, 47(1), 65-87. Pasquinelli, M. (2019). 3000 years of algorithmic rituals: The emergence of ai from the computation of space. E-flux Journal, 101.

Lecture slides; Text book; Multimedia materials;

Exam: Written test; Compulsory oral exam; Group graphic design project;

The exam will be different for students that will regularly follow lessons and for those that will, or can, not attend. Option 1 (for attending students only): Project-based assessment with oral exam Students attending regularly can choose this option. In this project-based assessment track, work will be conducted in small groups (3–4 students) to design and produce a digital Zine (a short, self-published magazine). This creative assignment tasks students with translating the dense, critical theories of global urban geography explored in the first part of this course into a sharp, visually engaging, and politically grounded case study. The goal of the Zine is to deconstruct how global digital infrastructures, platform economies, and shifting urban regimes manifest “on the ground” in a specific city or regional context. Zines must be between 6 and 8 pages and must balance rigorous academic critique with creative editorial expression. Details about the project requirements will be provided in class. During the course, students will have dedicated workshop time to review their projects. The oral exam will consist of 2 questions about the topics and readings engaged in the collaborative work. The project component is assessed across four criteria: Content (Max 5 points), Required design features (Max 5 points), Clarity (of text, images, etc) (Max 4 points), and References (Max 4 points). The Oral exam questions component is worth Max 10 points. A total score of 32 or more results in Merits (con Lode). Option 2 (for both attending students and non-attending students): Written test (delivered via Polito’s digital platform) Students who are unable to attend lectures regularly or who choose not to participate in the collaborative project track will be evaluated via a formal, summative written examination. This exam is specifically designed to test individual comprehension, critical analysis, and the synthesis of core theoretical frameworks established across the course's essential reading list. Rather than relying on simple memorization, the assessment tasks students with putting different authors into conversation, critically evaluating their arguments, and applying abstract geographical concepts to concrete, real-world urban dynamics. The examination consists of three open-ended essay questions to be completed within a total duration of 120 minutes. Each question targets key debates from the required syllabus literature, and students must adhere to strict length constraints to ensure precise, well-structured arguments. Responses must meet a minimum of 400 words and must not exceed a maximum of 600 words per question, as any answers falling outside this threshold will face grading penalties. No digital materials, external internet access, or artificial intelligence tools may be used during the test. This digital examination will be administered on campus under invigilated conditions using the university's online learning platform. Students are strictly required to bring their own laptops to the examination room, ensuring beforehand that their devices are fully charged, capable of maintaining a stable connection to the campus Wi-Fi, and entirely compatible with the digital platform. During the 120-minute session, the exam interface will operate in a locked or restricted mode that cuts off access to the broader internet and AI assistants, leaving students reliant solely on their laptops. In this mode of examination, each question is worth Max 11 points, totaling Max 33 points. A total score of 32 or more results in Merits (Lode).

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.