ARCH 409, Section 4

As the planet continues to urbanize rapidly despite the many global crises at play, the dynamic relationship between urban centers and their peripheries
opens many urgent questions for us, planners and designers. In this course, we will explore the processes of urban transformation that characterize the
production and reproduction of urban space in the urban peripheries of two very different territories in the Americas, Detroit and São Paulo. With opposite
urban dynamics –Detroit has been losing population since the 1960s, and São Paulo continues to grow–, there is much to learn while looking relationally
at the recent sociospatial transformations in the two cities. Despite striking political, cultural, and environmental differences, both cities are characterized
by an uneven and fragmented territory with complex governance structures and problematic legacies home to many urban actors holding divergent visions
of what the future could and should be. During the semester, we will do fieldwork and engage in a series of research components assisting our local partners in São Paulo as they organize with local communities in response to a larger urban redevelopment project. The initiative is open to students from all degrees at Taubman College and other units on campus