California State Polytechnic University
Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning

URP 101/ URP 101A Introduction to Cities & Planning, Fall 2009

I. CATALOG DESCRIPTION and notes about lecture and activity
Study of the contemporary American city, with emphasis on observing and understanding urban phenomena. Uses examples from Southern California with field trips. This course, required of all incoming planning majors, includes orientation to the planning curriculum and the profession. Three hours of lecture and one two-hour activity section (concurrent enrollment required). Prerequisites: none.

1. Develop awareness of the urban environment and the ability to detect clues about urban settings.
2. Increase understanding of the social uses and users of urban space.
3. Improve oral and written communication skills necessary for professional planners.
4. Master and use basic word processing skills
5. Gain skills for team work and coordinating individual efforts to achieve group goals.
   

1. Attendance at all lectures and assigned activity sessions. Be aware that class activities will involve field research, including an all-day field trip on Tuesday, 10 November. If you have other classes on Tuesdays, you need to request permission to be absent that day. Do this NOW. If you need a letter from Dr. Urey to your instructor, get on it NOW.
2. Timely completion and submission of all activity assignments. Your activity instructor will inform you of his or her policy concerning late assignments.
3. Successful completion of quizzes and exams covering the lecture material.
4. Students will work in teams to complete assignments and class activities throughout the quarter. Learning to work collaboratively is an part of a planning education and the planning profession.

IV. QUIZZES AND EXAMINATIONS
QUIZZES: A total of eight weekly quizzes will be given during the quarter. The quizzes will cover the reading and lecture material. The quizzes must be done outside of class, using Blackboard. You may take each quiz up to three times within the week that it is available. The questions may change from each time you take it to the next (questions are drawn from a question bank). Only the best score will count. All quizzes are available for one week only. Blackboard informs you when a new quiz becomes available and also provides the deadline for completing the quiz. Each quiz becomes available on a Friday and must be completed by the following Thursday, before class. Each quiz covers the reading for the current week and lecture material from the previous week: e.g., Quiz 2 covers the lecture material from 29 Sep. and 1 Oct. and the Bess, Clay and Scheer readings.

EXAMS: Two examinations will be given—the first on Thursday, 5 November during class, and the second during the exam period on Tuesday, 8 December, from 3:50 p.m. - 5:50 p.m. Each exam will cover 5 weeks of material; the midterm will count for 10 percent of your final grade; the final will count for 15 percent. You will be allowed to use your "urban sketchbook" during each exam. No other materials are allowed.


V. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS
Two texts are required, and both may be purchased at the Bronco Bookstore. The texts are:

Grady Clay (1973) Close Up: How to read the American City (University of Chicago).
Jan Venolia (2003) Write Right! 4th ed. (Ten Speed Press).

An additional text is optional: John J.G. Blumenson (1990) Identifying American architecture : a pictorial guide to styles and terms, 1600-1945, revised ed. (W.W. Norton).

Reader 1 and online readings: Additional materials will be made available online and in one or more readers available for purchase at "Ask Copy & Printing" (3530 West Temple Ave., Pomona). (Reader 1 is available now). When possible, readings will be made available on the class website. The class website will be managed through "Blackboard 9 pilot." Students must use their Cal Poly USERIDs to log into Blackboard. Please note that Blackboard 9 is running as a pilot. If you log into Blackboard 7, you will not find URP 101 listed. See the Blackboard page for further instruction and for information about Blackboard workshops for students. Log on to the Blackboard 9 web page at Cal Poly Pomona at: blackboard.csupomona.edu. Choose the Blackboard 9 button:During specified hours of the early morning, Blackboard may be down for maintenance. Consult the log-in page to see if this is the case. When Blackboard is down, you cannot take quizzes or submit assignments. Please plan accordingly. For assistance in getting access to your Blackboard account, visit the I&IT help desk in Building 1:100. Their office hours are Monday through Thursday: 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM and Friday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM (excluding state holidays and state furlough Fridays). A calendar of university furlough days can be found here: http://www.csupomona.edu/~ehelp/pdf/2009-2010_calendar.pdf

VI. MINIMUM STUDENT MATERIALS
Students will be expected to have access to computers in their homes or in University labs; word-processing software will be used, and access to the world wide web will be required for weekly quizzes and to access class materials. Students should respond to email sent to their Cal Poly Pomona account.

Urban sketchbook: Students will be required to keep a sketchbook. It should be brought to every lecture and to every activity section. It can be collected by the instructor at any time. You must use it to record field notes and sketches for writing assignments and for the three class field trips. You also may use it to take notes during class if you wish, and you will be allowed to use it during the midterm and the final exam. You may choose your own format, but a sketchbook of at least 5" by 7" with a spiral binding is recommended. You should not add pages to it or stick things into it. Such insertions will be considered "unauthorized study aids" during the exams, resulting in a zero on the test.

Camera: Students will be required to use photography during the Pomona fieldtrip on Tuesday, 27 October and during the LA fieldtrip on Tuesday, 10 November. Digital cameras are preferred.

VII. BASIS FOR GRADES

1. 20 % quizzes
2. 25 % exams
• midterm = 10%
• final = 15 %
3. 5% attendance and participation in lecture
4. 35 % Activity attendance and assignments (This portion of you grade will be decided by your 101A instructor). All papers must be typed. Consult you 101A instructor concerning policies about late papers. Hard copies of each assignment will be distributed during your activity section; the assignments will also be available for downloading from BB.
• Urban sketchbook = 12%
• Paper 1 = 4%
• Paper 2 (field trip 1) = 6%
• Paper 3 (field trip 2) = 8%
• attendance and participation in activity and on field trips = 5%

15 % LA field trip project (Individual paper and group presentation. This portion of you grade also will be decided by your 101A instructor)

100 % Total --your grades for the lecture and activity section are added together; your recorded grades for URP 101 and URP 101A will be the same.

VIII. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Be aware of University guidelines regarding academic integrity ("Policies and Regulations" section of the 2009-11 University Catalog, especially pages 56-57): All forms of academic dishonesty at Cal Poly are a violation of University policy and will be considered a serious offense. That is, violations will be referred to the Office of Judicial Affairs and will result in failing grades on the assignment in question. Violations of #5 will result in a failing grade in the class. Academic dishonesty includes but is not limited to:

1. "Plagiarism, falsification, fabrication is intentionally or knowingly presenting words, ideas or work of others as one’s own work.. . . .
2. Cheating during exams. . .
3. Use of unauthorized study aids . . .
4. Falsifying any University document--this includes . . .falsifying prerequisite requirements."
5. Academic dishonesty also includes presenting fabricated data, such as field notes, as authentic.

Week/Quiz due by Thursday	Date	Topic	Reading to be completed before class	Activity section notes
week 0	24 Sep	Introduction	none
week 1	29 Sep	Writing what you see	Activity section: Get acquainted, talk about course and about learning about cities. Complete in-class sketchbook assignment #1. Lecture: BB readings: Ian Frazier (2008), "Hungry Minds; Tales from a Chelsea soup kitchen," The New Yorker (26 May), 56+. and associated web sites.	Paper 1 out
quiz 1 due	1 Oct	Seeing what you write and meeting student club officers	Lecture: Clay: "Introduction," "Wordgames," 11-22 Reader 1* David Bess, "Quick fix on a new place"
week 2	6 Oct	Seeing buildings and neighborhoods	Activity section: go over first paper, prepare for field trip 1, Complete in-class sketchbook assignment #2, discussion Lecture: Reader 1*: David Bess, "Southern California Vernacular Architecture: Just this side of crazy," and peruse Blumenson, Identifying American Architecture	Paper 1 due
quiz 2 due	8 Oct	Seeing cities--frameworks vs "fixes"	Lecture: Clay: "Fixes," 23-37 BB readings*: Brenda Case Scheer (2007), "Shape of the City," Planning Magazine (July), 30-33. Student codes of conduct--academic integrity and respect & civility--read policies and watch the film clips at http://www.dsa.csupomona.edu/judicialaffairs/ take the "plagiarism quiz."
week 3	13 Oct	Environmental "Fixes" & meeting the URP faculty	Activity section: Field trip 1 Lecture: BB readings: Michael Specter (2008), "Big Foot; In measuring carbon emissions, it's easy to confuse morality and science.," The New Yorker (25 Feb), 44+.	Field trip 1 Paper 2 out
quiz 3 due	15 Oct	Epitome Districts	Lecture: Clay: "Epitome Districts," 38-65; and BB readings*: Mark Hinshaw, FAICP, "Great Neighborhoods; Places that stand out for their character, livability, and positive community feeling," Planning (January), 6-11; ane. BB readings*: Ruth Eckdish Knack, AICP (2008), "Great Streets; What makes them special," Planning (January), 12-17. http://kiplinger.com/money/bestcities/
week 4	20 Oct Dr. Urey furlough day	The case of Pomona	Activity section: go over second paper, prepare for field trip 2, discussion Lecture: BB readings: Historic Pomona mall & civic center readings Historic Pomona race relations readings Mike Davis (1994), "The suburban nightmare," Los Angeles Times, M1.	Paper 2 due--Urey section slide papers under door of 7-204.
quiz 4 due	22 Oct	Districts	Lecture: Clay: "Fronts," 66-84 and Reader 1*: Cathleen Schine (2008), "Holy Ground," New Yorker (16 Sept.), 46+. Info Please, World Trade Center site history at http://www.infoplease.com/spot/wtc1.html and for images: http://www.wtc.com/media/images/
week 5	27 Oct	"Epitome Districts"	Activity section: Field trip 2 Lecture: Reader 1*: Lauren Collins (2009), "Zoo York," The New Yorker (14 Sept.), 41-42. BB readings*: Peruse "High Line" links.	Paper 3 out Field trip 2
	29 Oct	"Beats" and "Stacks"	Lecture: Clay: "Beats," and "Stacks," 110-144--note this skips ahead, and Reader 1*: Harvey Molotch, “Standing Around”
week 6	3 Nov	MIDTERM review	Activity section: Prepare for LA field trip Lecture: Prepare for midterm	Paper 3 due
quiz 5 due	5 Nov	MIDTERM
week 7	10 Nov	LA Field trip
quiz 6 due	12 Nov Dr. Urey furlough day	" Strips"	Lecture: Clay: "Strips," 85-109 Reader 1*: Ian Frazier, "Route 3" LA field trip materials	Strip sketch exercise
week 8	17 Nov	"Sinks"	Activity section: Prepare LA presentations in consultation with instructor Lecture: Clay: "Sinks," 145-152, and BB readings: James Krohe, Jr. (2008), "Environmental (In)justice," Planning (March), 20-25.	LA field trip field notes and photos
quiz 7 due	19 Nov	"Turf"	Lecture: Clay: "Turf" 153-175 BB readings: Elizabeth Kolbert (2008), "Turf War; Americans can't live without their lawns-but how long can they live with them?," The New Yorker (21 July), 82+.
week 9	24 Nov	"Vantages"	Activity section: LA presentations and discussion Lecture: Clay: "Vantages," 176-181 Reader 1*: Elizabeth Kolbert (2008), "The Island in the Wind; A Danish community's victory over carbon emissions," (7 July), 68+. BB readings: Paul Shigley (2009), "California's Aerial Combat: The state tries a first-in-the-nation approach to attacking climate change," Planning (February).	LA field trip group presentation
	26 Nov	Thanksgiving Day Holiday (no class)
week 10	1 Dec	More vantages	Activity section: LA presentations and discussion Lecture: BB readings: Nick Paumgarten (2009), "Useless Beauty: What is to be done with Governor's Island?" The New Yorker (31 Aug.), 56+; BB readings*: Adam Regn Arvidson (2008), "Pedal Pushers," Planning (March) 6-12; and Susan Weaver and William Fulton (2008), "Where Connections Count," Planning (March).	LA field trip individual paper due
quiz 8 due	3 Dec	Review and parting shots	Review for final
Exam	8 Dec	FINAL, 3:50-5:50

* purchase readers at Ask Copy & Printing, (3530 West Temple Ave., Pomona).

Note:

CSU Employee Furloughs – Impact on Classes

This year across this campus and around the CSU system some class days will be cancelled because of furloughs. A furlough is mandatory un-paid time off; faculty and staff on each CSU campus are being “furloughed” two days per month.

These cancelled class days are marked on the schedule in the above syllabus. It is important to recognize that these days off are not holidays. Instead, they are concrete examples of how massive state budget cuts have consequences for you as students and for me as a faculty member.

The CSU has suffered chronic underfunding for at least 10 years. This year the budget cuts are the worst in the history of our university system — $584 million or 20% of our budget. The CSU administration is attempting to deal with these cuts with huge increases in your student fees (32%), eliminations of your classes, non-reappointment and lay-offs of faculty and other university employees.

In addition to paying higher fees, you will be affected by reduced services and classes. The library will have shorter hours. Many campus support services will be decreased or eliminated. It will be more difficult to get signatures to meet deadlines. Classes you need may have been cut from the class schedule or filled before you could get in.

If you would like to take action, or simply learn more, I strongly recommend you contact the CSU Students for Quality Education on this campus using this email: yourvoice_calpoly@yahoo.com or by visiting their Facebook page.

You may also find information from the Pomona Chapter of the California Faculty Association:
www.csupomona.edu/~cfa