Анализ «жизненного пути» и городская среда

2025/2026

Статус: Маго-лего

Кто читает: Высшая школа урбанистики имени А.А. Высоковского

Где читается: Факультет городского и регионального развития

Когда читается: 4 модуль

Охват аудитории: для своего кампуса

Преподаватели: Зотова Варвара Алексеевна

Язык: английский

Кредиты: 3

Контактные часы: 32

Full Syllabus Ask Question

Abstract

This course explores the dynamic relationship between the human life course and the urban environment, focusing on how different stages of life are both shaped by the city and reflected in its spatial, social, and institutional structures. Moving beyond a one-directional understanding, the course emphasizes the reciprocal nature of this relationship: how cities influence the ways people experience childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age, and how, in turn, the needs, practices, and expectations of different age groups are inscribed into urban space. Through engagement with key academic texts in sociology, urban studies, and related fields, students will develop a broader analytical lens for understanding the city — not just as a physical environment, but as a lived and evolving context that accompanies individuals throughout their life trajectories. The course invites students to reconsider familiar urban settings by asking how age, generational belonging, and life transitions shape everyday interactions with the city. Particular attention is given to how urban infrastructure, policies, and cultural norms respond (or fail to respond) to the diverse needs of people at different life stages, as well as how generational change transforms urban demands over time. By tracing these processes, students will gain tools to critically evaluate contemporary urban development strategies through the lens of inclusivity, adaptability, and life-course sensitivity. The course combines theoretical reflection with applied work. Students will engage in discussions based on selected readings, develop their own interpretations of urban environments, and, in the final part of the course, work on a practical task focused on identifying and addressing a specific urban issue related to a particular life stage. Designed for a broad audience, this course is relevant not only for students of urban studies and planning, but also for those interested in sociology, public policy, social work, and the everyday experience of the city. It aims to expand students’ perception of urban space and equip them with conceptual and practical tools for thinking about more inclusive and responsive urban environments.

Learning Objectives

To understand the core concepts of the life course approach and its relevance for studying urban environments, including its historical development and key theoretical foundations.
To examine how different stages of life (childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood, old age, etc.) shape individuals’ interactions with the city and their everyday spatial practices.
To explore how urban environments influence the ways people experience and interpret different stages of their lives.
To analyze how generational shifts and broader social transformations reshape demands on urban space, infrastructure, and services.
To develop a critical perspective on urban environments by assessing how different spaces, policies, and practices respond to (or overlook) the needs of people at various life stages.
To apply the life course approach in practice by identifying a life-stage-specific urban issue and proposing informed, context-sensitive solutions based on theoretical insights.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• The student can confidently present and defend a developed project that takes into account the needs of one or more age groups in the urban environment. • The student can apply acquired knowledge and an interdisciplinary approach to solving real urban challenges.
The student can explain key concepts of the life course approach and apply them to the analysis of urban environments.
The student can identify how urban spaces and institutions influence different stages of human life.
 The student can analyze how well urban infrastructure meets the needs of families with young children.
The student can propose improvements to the urban environment based on the needs of early childhood (safety, accessibility, sensory environment).
The student can identify how teenagers use urban space and what intergenerational conflicts may arise
The student can develop proposals for creating an inclusive and supportive urban environment for adolescents
The student can analyze the influence of the city on the educational and leisure trajectories of young people
The student can develop initiatives to increase youth participation in urban life (e.g., through projects or urban planning).
The student can assess how urban infrastructure supports the balance between work, caregiving responsibilities, and personal life.
The student can develop approaches to sustainable urban development that take into account the needs of the active working population.
The student can analyze the challenges people face before retirement (access to healthcare, employment, education).
The student can design initiatives to prepare the urban environment for an aging population.
The student can identify barriers in the urban environment for older adults and propose ways to remove them.
The student can design inclusive spaces and services that support active and dignified aging.
The student can analyze urban and sociocultural conditions that contribute to longevity.
The student can propose urban development strategies that ensure high quality of life in advanced old age

Course Contents

Topic 1. Introduction to Life Course Analysis
Topic 2. (Early) Childhood in the City
Topic 3. Adolescence in the Urban Environment
Topic 4. Youth and Young Adult
Topic 5. Middle-Aged People in the City
Topics 6-7. (Pre-)Retirees in the Urban Environment
Topic 8. Longevity as an Urbanization Phenomenon
Topic 9. Project Presentations

Assessment Elements

Activity in the lesson
Individual review of the article
Submission of group project

Interim Assessment

2025/2026 4th module
0.3 * Activity in the lesson + 0.3 * Individual review of the article + 0.4 * Submission of group project

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Cities transformed : demographic change and its implications in the developing world, , 2004
Educational psychology, Vygotsky, L.S., 1997
Elder, G. H. (1998). The life course as developmental theory. Child Development, 69(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.2307/1132065
Gender roles : a sociological perspective, Lindsey, L. L., 2005
Merton, R. K. (1995). The Thomas Theorem and The Matthew Effect. Social Forces, 74(2), 379–422. https://doi.org/10.2307/2580486
Mind, self, and society : from the Standpoint of a social behaviorist, Mead, G. H., 1992
Reproduction in education, society and culture, Bourdieu, P., 2000
Transitions and the lifecourse : challenging the constructions of 'growing old', Grenier, A., 2012

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Beauvoir, S. de, Malovany-Chevallier, S., & Borde, C. (2011). The Second Sex (Vol. 1st ed). New York: Vintage. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=745281
Henri Lefebvre. (2012). The Right to the City. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.2E8A262C
Lezhnina, I. P. (2014). The Transformation of Gender Roles in Today’s Russia. Sociological Research, 53(5), 13–31. https://doi.org/10.2753/SOR1061-0154530502
The constitution of society : outline of the theory of structuration, Giddens, A., 2010
Thomas, W. I. 1863-1947. (1927). The Polish peasant in Europe and America, by William I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.17E0DD1B
Vygotsky, L. S. (2016). Play and Its Role in the Mental Development of the Child. International Research in Early Childhood Education, 7(2), 3–25. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1138861

Authors

Zotova Varvara Alekseevna

Course Syllabus