The course takes its starting point in interrelations between everyday life, urban structures and global processes, for example structural changes in global economy and increasing multicultural citizenships and the impacts on living conditions for people in various parts of the world. To be aware of the social and cultural implications of planning and design decisions as well as to consider the impact of social and cultural conditions on planning and design processes is a challenging and important task for planners and architects.
Social issues concern generally how people in a society relate to each other and interact and how we build institutions that become stable or not. They also concern traits of the society, such as how issues of power, gender, justice, security etc raise debates, controversies and conflicts but also the formation of communities. Living conditions, social services and health are important social issues in planning as well as viewpoints on the urban agglomeration as an arena for social interaction, e.g. as a space for socializing, social and creative meetings.
Cultural issues refer to the wider definition of culture which generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. It is a system of symbols and meanings without fixed boundaries, constantly in flux. It is also an activity – something you do/perform. Expressions and performances of culture are defined according to this within a wide range; for instance sports, shopping, cooking, walking and knitting are cultural things as well as fine arts (art, music, dance etc). In this course cultural issues concern what everyday life activities mean to us as well as what material objects and built environment mean but also how we through planning try to create conditions for dynamic cultural processes.