705-112 Skills for Urban Planning and Design

It is assumed that students will have basic computer skills in Microsoft Word, email, internet, spreadsheets (Excel). The subject develops students' ability to search for and analyse various kinds of urban planning data and to present material effectively in graphic form, in writing, in statistical form and in the spoken word. It covers interpretation (and production) of topographic maps, plans and design concepts; aerial photography; introduction to desktop mapping (MapInfo); thematic mapping. Census and Statistical Data: time series and other statistical data sources (ABS), CData96 and CLib96. Introduction to GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Statistics for urban planning: data sources, sampling, questionnaires, variables, frequency distributions, generalisations, probability and sampling, binomial distribution, normal distribution, tests of significance, test hypothesis, chi-square distribution. Students will be introduced to and practise graphic communication and design skills in a series of studio-based exercises intended to apply the lecture material.

On completion of the subject students should have developed skills in research, critical analysis and writing and some experience with group work.

Weekly exercises including graphic communication and design, computer graphics, and the application of interactive web-based and other course material, the equivalent of 4000 words (80%), plus a one-hour class test in the last week of semester (20%).