Entry requirements

Bachelor´s degree consisting of 180 credits. The equivalent of English B/English 6 in Swedish secondary school.

Progression level in relation to degree requirements

The course forms part of the main field study Urban Studies second cycle level 91-120 credits

Course contents

The purpose of the course is that students acquire knowledge in urban and regional economics. Students should obtain an understanding of different sectors localisation decisions and how to analyse the resulting geographical patterns. Students should also be able to analyse the resulting phenomena such as urbanisation, densification, regional development and distribution as well as inequalities. The course aims for students to understand relevant actors in urban development. The course furthermore aims at students acquiring current methods in the field, with a special emphasis on quantitative methods and geographic information systems (GIS).

The course is divided into two parts.

1. Urban growth and development (7.5 credits)

This part aims at providing knowledge of urban and regional economics, as well as an understanding of different stakeholders and their role in urban development.

2. Analytical methods for economic and geographic analysis. (7.5 credits)

In this part students will apply analytical tools for urban and regional data, including statistical methods and GIS tools. Lectures, seminars and computer labs will be used parallel in order for students to be able to apply theories using relevant tools.

Learning outcomes

Part 1

After finishing the course, the student should:

1. be able to identify, analyse and critically assess current issues related to urban and regional development

2. explain and critically assess theories in urban and regional economics

Part 2

After finishing the course, the student should be able to:

3. apply statistical and GIS based methods as tools for analysing land and real estate

4. understand and assess strengths and limitations of different methods and be able to account for them.

5. communicate orally and in writing results from analytical work in a clear manner.

Learning activities

Lectures, seminars, and written assignments.

Assessment

Part 1

Seminars (2.5 credits) (grading scale UG) (learning outcomes 1 & 2)

Written individual examination (5 credits) (grading scale UA) (learning outcomes 1 & 2)

Part 2

Written assignments (2.5 credits) (grading scale UG) (learning outcome 3, 4 & 5)

Individual project (5 credits) (grading scale UA) (learning outcome 3, 4 & 5)

In order to pass the course all examining parts need to be passed.

The final grade is the average grade of the parts assessed using the grading scale UA.

Information on how the full course grade is determined will be available in course documentation provided when the course starts.

Course literature

• Jones, C. (latest edition). Urban Economy. Real estate economics and public policy. Routledge, Milton Park.
• Mehmetoglu, M., & Jakobsen, T. G. (latest edition). Applied Statistics Using Stata: A guide for the social sciences, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks.
• Menke, K. (latest edition). Discover QGIS 3. x: A workbook for classroom or independent study. Locate Press Open Source Geospatial Books, Chugiak.

Articles and other material will be provided electronically

Course evaluation

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

Interim rules

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

Additional information

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format.

The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text