About this course
Using the city as our classroom, this course combines first-hand experiences through biking, walking, and sensing the city with theoretical knowledge of the built environment, urban life, and urban transformations. The understanding of cities draws from different fields through expressions of society: civility in the midst of diversity, culture and art, science and technology, trade, commerce, money, power, politics, policy, and political tension and strife. The course introduces current urban paradigms, urban practices, and urban policies, putting Copenhagen and cities in Europe on the map in terms of urban sustainability, livability, and resilience.
Syllabus
Course Note
Most classes will be spent visiting sites via bicycle, so confidence in cycling is mandatory.
Faculty
Regitze Hess
FacultyArchitect MAA. Cand. Arch., Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Copenhagen (1993). B.Eng. – Civil, McGill University, Montreal (1985). A career of working with and advocating for better urban and built environments through the world of philanthropy, non-profits, academia and private practice; as curator; publisher, editor and writer; teacher and critic. Working with and for: B Architectural Publisher, COurban, Cumulus, DAC, Danish Arts Foundation, Design Declaration, Gehl, Gehl Institute, International Federation for Housing and Planning [IFHP], Realdania, Scale Denmark. Positions of trust include: DIS Faculty Chair, DIS Board member. Affiliated with DIS since 2002.
Mathilde Riou
FacultyMasters (Urban Studies, KTH Royal University of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, 2017). Masters (Civil Engineering and Urban Planning, National Institute of Sciences (INSA) Lyon, France, 2016). Project manager in sustainable and participatory urbanism, Wigwam Consulting, 2017-2020. Freelance process consultant and visual facilitator for urban projects, The Urban Mycelium, 2021-present. With DIS since 2024.
Bettina Werner
FacultyM.A. (Applied Cultural Analysis, Copenhagen University, 2016). B.A. (Political Philosophy, Uppsala University, Sweden, with a minor in Indigenous Studies, UNSW, Australia). Co-founder of COurban design collective. Previously worked as a researcher and project manager at urban design firm, CITITEK. Projects include data collection, research, co-creation of playgrounds and public space, interior spatial analysis of office environments, and educational seminars with both state and private clients. With DIS since 2016.