Going Global: Reflexivity and Contextualism in Urban Design Education

Abstract

Over the years there have been few articles written about urban design education. Two general trends emerge: first, an attempt to establish , a priori, the basic skills required by urban designers; and secondly, to make up for the limitations of architectural and planning orthodoxy. The article reverses this process, suggesting for consideration a structure of educational principles and a coalition of theoretical ideas from the author's laboratory, namely the Master's in Urban Development and Design programme at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. This is done by analysing the experiences gained in four major international live projects (Bali, Cebu, Beirut and Hong Kong) abstracted from the portfolio of work carried out over the last 6 years. Leaning on ideas derived from George Soros's concept of 'reflexivity', and Foucault's ideas of 'the episteme' and its foundation in what he refers to as essential 'knowledges' which bear on the idea of genealogy and change in learning, certain basic precepts surface about urban design and urban design education through exposing the assumptions behind the learning process. In so doing, more traditional structures of learning founded on concepts of 'basic skills' and the trivial nature of urban design 'theory' are challenged in favour of a more contextual and reflexive conduit for urban design programmes based in urban social theory. In conclusion, the genealogical process linking key discourses in project-based learning is reified as fundamental to urban design education, particularly so because the embodiment of ideas in practice is not self-evident and the theoretical base of the discipline is weak. At the same time, the idea is advanced that a globally integrated content linked to a reflexive process is required across all of our learning in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

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