The courses related to the economic, social, legal issues for architecture and urban planning provide students with understanding and theoretical knowledge complementary and synergistic with the disciplinary ones of the architectural field necessary to face with greater awareness, effectiveness and concreteness the design activity.

In particular, the student will be able to deepen one of these three areas:

- knowledge in the social sciences relating to the relationship between man and built environment and to the changes that have characterized this relationship over time and the effects that these changes have produced on conceptions, representations and the project of architecture;

- knowledge in the field of constitutional law, and the principles of administrative law, urban planning law and the legal regime of construction activities in European and national legislation;

- knowledge of economic issues (type and functioning of markets, analysis of supply and demand, private and public goods, bankruptcy and market regulation) related to the design and construction in building sectors.

According to the Dublin Descriptors (DdD), passing the exam certifies the acquisition of the following results:

DdD 1 knowledge and understanding

- knowledge in the social sciences related to the relationship between man and the built environment and to the changes that over time have characterized the notion and aspects of this relationship and the effects that these changes have produced on conceptions, representations and the architectural project;

or

- knowledge in the field of constitutional law, European and national legislation of the principles of administrative law, urban planning law, the legal regime of construction activities;

or

- knowledge in the field of economic issues (type and functioning of markets, analysis of supply and demand, private and public goods and market regulation) related to the design and construction of works in the construction sectors.

DdD 2 ability to apply knowledge and understanding

- ability to interpret the physical space as an expression of the organization of society and as an element that produces effects on the behaviour of individuals, social groups, populations that use and live in it;

or

- ability to interpret constitutional law, European and national legislation, the principles of administrative law, urban planning law, the legal status of building activity;

or

- ability to analyze the economic issues related to the design and construction of works in the construction sectors.

DdD 3 (autonomy of judgment), 4 (communication skills) and 5 (learning ability)

- ability to acquire, process independently and communicate knowledge not strictly related to the subjects characterizing the Master Program (DdD 3, 4 and 5)

Course contents

The course will address two important challenges faced by local economies nowadays: the environmental footprint of economic activities and the rising socio-economic inequalities across space worldwide.

The course is accordingly structured in two modules, each discussing a specific challenge.

Module I: Environmental and natural resources economics

This module will firstly introduce market mechanisms and failures, and then it will address the most relevant failures related to the environment interpreted  both as natural resources (e.g. water, waste, climate change, land) and the built environment (i.e. cities and regions) and natural resources depletion, i.e. public goods, the tragedy of commons, positive and negative externalities. In particular, the following topics will be discussed:

1. Public goods in case of natural resources and the environment

2. Private costs, social costs and the optimal level of negative externalities

3. Private and public approaches to the problem of externalities

Module II. The economics of spatial inequalities

This module will discuss a series of conceptual approaches about regional economic growth and development enabling to explain the rise of socio-economic inequlities across cities and regions. These approaches include:

1. Theories on industrial specialization

2. Keynesian, neoclassical and new economic geography theories of regional growth

3. Theories of territorial development

Moreover, a series of lectures will be dedicated to present and apply spatial economic analysis tools useful to study regional socio-economic inequalities, with guided empirical application to regions in the European Union (and in selected countries worldwide).

Assessment

Attending students

In order to balance individual and group performance, assessment will be based on: 

- A test on the first module as mid-term assessment (50% of the final grade, individual grade)

- A group written essay to be presented in class (50% final grade - group grade)

Not-attending students

A written exam

selected chapters

selected chapters