This course approaches urban transition not as a consensual technical pathway toward sustainability, but as a contested socio-ecological process structured by power relations, material dependencies, and institutional forms. Rather than starting from predefined theories of justice, the course develops a grounded and processual perspective. Justice is treated not as a stable normative framework to be applied to urban space, but as a layered and disputed problem that emerges from concrete spatial arrangements and from the ways spaces are produced, organised, and inhabited.
Urban transition is understood here as a way of thinking urban change—attentive to processes, conflicts, infrastructures, care, housing, and responsibility—and oriented toward the habitability of a socially and spatially just world. Across the semester, we progressively examine how justice is invoked, displaced, or undermined through concrete urban situations.
The course combines short lectures introducing analytical frameworks, student presentations of selected readings, collective discussions, and a shared urban thread focusing on ongoing processes of densification and energy renovation in Geneva. Some theoretical frameworks will be introduced in class and are not required readings. Required readings are clearly indicated for each session.
There are seven required readings for the semester. Students are expected to read them carefully and to actively engage in discussion. Student presentations (15 minutes maximum) aim to identify the core argument of the text, clarify key concepts, relate the reading to urban transition, and open questions for debate.
Throughout the semester, we will repeatedly return to contemporary transformations of the built environment in Geneva. This shared reference point supports the development of a situated analytical perspective and contributes directly to preparation for the final written exam. Evaluation is based on active participation, one student presentation, and a final written exam, as detailed in the syllabus.
- Professor: Luca Pattaroni
