Urban Politics and Citizenship

With a point of departure in the growing rift between Sweden's city suburbs and the rest of the country, the course Urban Politics and Citizenship aims to shine light on the different causes and effects of our changing urban landscape: How do politicians, bureaucrats and private interests (governance) deal with a growing crime rate and evident deprivation? So far, and using the "middle-class neighbourhood" as a template, local governments have attempted to transform what they perceive as deprived neighbourhoods into more socially sustainable places. Academics criticise this model of social sustainability arguing that this template is lacking since even the middle-class neighbourhood is segregated, stigmatized and, thus, deprived of social and ethnic diversity. Against this background and from the perspective of inclusive citizenship, the course touches on: The causes and effects of the spatial, class and ethnic segregation of the city The measures currently implemented to tackle negative neighbourhood effects Alternative solutions presented by researchers. Here we ask the question: What kind of city-planning do we need to guarantee a sustainable future? Welcome to the course Urban Politics and Citizenship!