urban studies

(20% of your grade)

GOAL:

The goal of this assignment is to understand the role that “empty” space has in an urban setting You will conduct fieldwork, document your fieldwork, and then a report on an empty lot in San Diego, or some other major metropolitan area, answering the question:

“How does the vacant lot, located on ____________ , in _____________, shape social possibilities, and how is it shaped by surrounding social life?

METHOD:

As a way to access your analysis of that vacant lot you will need to document it’s physical dimensions, the people that use it, how it is used, what it contains/doesn’t contain and so on. You should take photographs, but in order to give your project dimensionality you might also include videos, drawings of the local area and even a diorama of that space. Based on what you discover about the parking lot, you should be able to answer the above research question. This answer then becomes your driving thesis and will help you stage a theoretical intervention of some kind. What is meant by theoretical intervention, is that you are to think of a way to change the vacant space that addresses what you claim is happening there.

WHAT YOU TURN IN:

You will conduct your lot reports in section and turn in a 8-10 page paper that incorporates at least 6 of the sources from the class readings as a way of framing your argument. In addition to the paper, your “lot reports” need to curate the information you’ve gathered as you’ve documented the space. Think of the in-class presentation as part “show and tell”, and part oral report (based on your paper).

Your TA’s will choose 1 or 2 presentations for viewing in the lecture on 5/24. To that end, be sure to have a power point presentation ready in the eventuality that you might be chosen. It will be easier to show the class these images as you speak to the group. If you have any large diorama’s, or other objects, please bring these in as well.