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Informatie over MSc Population Studies
Hieronder staan het programma en de vakomschrijvingen van MSc Population Studies Klik op de naam van een vak in een schema om naar de omschrijving te gaan.
| » Jaar 1 (Basic programme Population Studies) | |||||||
| Periode | Type | Code | Naam | Taal | ECTS | Uren | |
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| semester I a | verplicht | GEMPOPHP | Population, Health and Place | Engels | 5 | 4 | |
| verplicht | GEMWDPR | Working with Data in Population Research | Engels | 5 | variabel | ||
| verplicht | Optional course MSc Pop Studies | Engels | 5 | ||||
| semester I b | verplicht | GEMMFH | Migration, Families and Households | Engels | 5 | 4 | |
| verplicht | GEMPST22 | Life Tables and Population Projections | Engels | 5 | variabel | ||
| verplicht | Optional course MSc Pop Studies | Engels | 5 | ||||
| semester II | verplicht | GEMTHPOPST | Master's Thesis Population Studies | Engels | 20 | 1 | |
| semester II a | verplicht | GEMASA | Advanced Statistical Analysis | Engels | 5 | 8 | |
| verplicht | GEMPST23 | Contemporary Population Issues | Engels | 5 | 4 | ||
| » Jaar 1 (Optional courses Population Studies) | |||||||
| Periode | Type | Code | Naam | Taal | ECTS | Uren | |
| hele jaar | keuze | GEMSTAGE05 | Master Internship | Engels en Nederlands | 5 | 16 | |
| semester I a | keuze | GEMCITMAT | City Matters | Engels | 5 | variabel | |
| keuze | GEMDILEIP | Dilemmas in Infrastructure Planning | Engels | 5 | 4 | ||
| keuze | GEMEGTT | Economic Geogr: Theory and Application | Engels | 5 | 6 | ||
| keuze | GEMERD | Entrepreneurship & Regional Development | Engels | 5 | 5 | ||
| keuze | GEMFINEW | Finance for Real Estate | Engels | 5 | 4 | ||
| keuze | GEMPLANTH | Planning Theory | Engels | 5 | variabel | ||
| keuze | GEMRELS | Real Estate and Land Supply | Engels | 5 | 6 | ||
| semester I b | keuze | GEMESST | Engaging Society for Spatial Transformat | Engels | 5 | 4 | |
| keuze | GEMINTREM | International Real Estate Markets | Engels | 5 | 1 | ||
| keuze | GEMNLH | Nature, Landscape and Heritage | Engels | 5 | variabel | ||
| keuze | GEMQRM | Qualitative Research Methods | Engels | 5 | 4 | ||
| keuze | GEMREI | Real Estate Investment | Engels | 5 | 3 | ||
| keuze | GEMSPANGIS | Spatial Analysis with GIS | Engels | 5 | 8 | ||
| keuze | GEMURE | Urban and Regional Economics | Engels | 5 | 4 | ||
| keuze | RGABE91005 | Bouwrecht en gebiedsontwikkeling | Nederlands | 5 | 2 | ||
| semester II a | keuze | GEMCAGS | Critical Approaches to Global Sust Chall | Engels | 5 | 4 | |
| keuze | GEMRAMA | Regional Labour Market Analysis | Engels | 5 | 6 | ||
| keuze | GEMREENVPL | Reinventing Environmental Planning | Engels | 5 | 5 | ||
| keuze | GEMSOCIMAS | Social Impact Assessment | Engels | 5 | 3 | ||
| keuze | GEMTRWATM | Transitions in Water Management | Engels | 5 | 5 | ||
| semester II b | keuze | GEMLLSP | Living Lab Sustainable Places | Engels | 5 | variabel | |
| keuze | GEMTG | Transport Geography | Engels | 5 | 3 | ||
| 1 | Advanced Statistical Analysis | GEMASA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This course focuses on models for the description and analysis of demographic and geographic events and relationships, such as linear regression, logistic regression and event history models. Students will obtain substantial knowledge and practical experience concerning statistical models for the analysis of discrete and continuous time processes in life domains such as fertility, employment, migration, and health. As quantitative data often contain a temporal dimension, the required statistical tools receive special attention. Through computer lab sessions and assignments, using empirical survey data from social surveys such as the Demographic and Health Surveys and analyzing them in a statistical software package (STATA), students acquire a working knowledge for the choice, specification, estimation and interpretation of various models. Most examples during the course are related to topics in demographics and economic geography, but methods can be applied to other (social) fields of research. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2 | Bouwrecht en gebiedsontwikkeling | RGABE91005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Na een verkenning van de juridische aspecten die verbonden zijn met gebiedsontwikkeling komt op hoofdlijnen de planologische inkadering aan de orde, gevolgd door een behandeling van de verschillende grondbeleidsinstrumenten (voorkeursrecht, onteigening, kostenverhaal). Ook komen contractvorming, samenwerkingsmodellen (met name tussen overheden en marktpartijen) en het aanbestedingsrecht alsmede de regelgeving op het gebied van staatssteun aan bod. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 3 | City Matters | GEMCITMAT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City Matters: Social Justice and Urban Inequality confronts you with the moral dimension of spatial planning. Too often, planners seek the most effective and efficient planning strategy to reach a pre-defined desired future, without questioning who has the power to define what is desired, and for whom this is desirable. City Matters helps develop critical agency in the field of planning to develop just solutions. The urgent societal issues of our times urge urban planners to rethink the foundational principles of planning. We witness the beginning of the ’urban age’ where the majority of people live in cities. However, due to the liberalisation of the world economy and the restructuring of (European) welfare states, the economic situation of large social groups in the global North and the global South has become precarious. As a result, European cities are in constant transformation. Cities that are well connected in the (world) city network become increasingly unaffordable places to live in for those with moderate incomes. On different spatial scales, we observe an increase of socio-spatial polarisation. As socio-economic and ethnic segregation is on the rise, fears for the emergence of a social group that is excluded from mainstream society, economy, and civic life, are growing. Altogether, these developments confront every planner with issues of justice. This course enables you to build your own framework to develop and conduct theory-informed empirical research in new socio-geographical contexts and to propose ‘just’ planning interventions. In City Matters: Social Justice and Urban Inequality, four main questions will be discussed: 1. Which mechanisms – including planning – have generated the contemporary societal problems, such as the housing crisis, urban marginality and location-based activism? We review these mechanisms through the lens of political economy and critical urban theory, not considering them as ‘blind’ or ‘neutral’ processes, but as expressions of power imbalances between interest groups with different ideologies and agendas. 2. How much (in)equality is fair? In the course, the most important theoretical views on justice (such as utilitarianism, egalitarianism, sufficientarianism, and prioritarianism) are discussed. Furthermore, we discuss the arguments why a given level of inequality is fair according to these theories. 3. Which inequalities are relevant for planners? This question (re)defines the scope for spatial interventions and uncovers approaches to define just cities. To answer this question, several theories of spatial justice (such as Susan Fainstein, David Harvey, Edward Soja and Peter Marcuse) are discussed. 4. How can urban planners contribute to more ‘just’ cities? Challenges that planners and politicians face while trying to create affordable housing and inclusive communities will be discussed. Furthermore, we look at successful practices such as ‘commoning’, whereby people take control of their own community and resources. This course consists of eight lectures, seven seminars and an excursion where we visit an urban (re)development project that can be contested and supported from different perspectives on spatial justice. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 4 | Contemporary Population Issues | GEMPST23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Overpopulation. Already by the end of the 18th century, Thomas Robert Malthus warned the world that population growth would outstrip resources. In the 1970s, The Club of Rome provided this same message again in its famous essay ‘The Limits to Growth’. Although technological innovations and improvements in education and health have challenged these doom scenarios, global population growth and related implications for development, such as climate change, resource availability and food security, remains highly debated. This global concern is also reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals. But is it really population growth we should be concerned with? Or is it more a matter of population structure, resource distribution, consumption levels or population wellbeing? This course focuses on the issues of population growth, climate change, and food security. We will discuss various mechanisms underlying these contemporary population issues from a macro-level perspective. Students will become aware of the science-policy interface as they discuss the issues from the perspectives of various stakeholders and develop a policy brief for a particular country. At the end of the course, the students will represent their country in a United Nations simulation game addressing this contemporary population issue. The aim of the course is to develop students’ understanding of global contemporary population issues, and how population policies are developed and implemented to address these issues. The course takes a project-based learning approach in which students make use of lectures, group work and expert lectures to write a country specific dossier and policy brief addressing particular population issues. Upon successful completion of the course, students will have an understanding of contemporary population issues (population growth, climate change and food security) as well as how these issues could potentially be addressed in policies. They are also aware of forms of research communication that tend to be effective for knowledge exchange and evidence-based policy. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 5 | Critical Approaches to Global Sust Chall | GEMCAGS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Global sustainability studies came of age in the past decades as a reaction to study of the earth in isolation from humans and non-humans as well as the broader critique within planning, political economy and environmental studies domains. Critical Approaches to Global Sustainability Challenges emphasises multi-scalar critical perspectives in global sustainability debates in their relation to society and planning. The course seeks to shed light on contemporary sustainability challenges by employing ‘the hatchet and the seed’ (Robbins, 2019) approach of political ecology with a focus on ecological conflicts, uneven power relations and the asymmetric distribution of environmental costs and benefits. Along these lines, this course offers a “hatchet to take apart flawed, dangerous, and politically problematic accounts, and a seed, to grow into new socio-ecologies” (ibid). A critical appraisal of global sustainability challenges seeks to politicise debates on environmental change across scales and opens the field for an active engagement of planners and geographers in research and practice. This course will uncover the narratives and stories that are grounded in empirical case studies (single and comparative cases) and in doing so, it takes a relational perspective that includes the often neglected global hinterlands and regional backyards of urban studies and planning agendas. Starting from limits to growth and planetary boundaries, the course will present the key sustainability challenges identified in Sustainable Development Goals (with a focus on SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and SDG13: Climate Action) to build a cornerstone for students to understand the global knowledge-power nexus, democracy, environmental justice and the interplay between science and policy across spatial and temporal scales. It will enable students to locate and understand the roles of different actors, including planners, in these processes with a focus on climate, energy and land. The course concludes with an outlook towards liveability, grounds this on post-growth / degrowth ideas and includes lines of thought emerging from the Global South (such as buen vivir, ubuntu, gotong royong and swaraj). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 6 | Dilemmas in Infrastructure Planning | GEMDILEIP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This course focuses on network and governance dilemmas that arise in the planning and realization of different kinds of infrastructure networks. The course consists of four blocks. It starts with a block focusing on the general debates on network and governance theory and translating these debates into two main perspectives: a network perspective and a governance perspective. Subsequently, in the following three thematic blocks, waterway, energy and road infrastructure networks will be covered. Each of the thematic blocks will be discussed on the basis of the network and the governance perspective. After the first two blocks and at the end of the fourth block there will be an exam. In addition, there are mandatory excursions with group assignments, which will result in a group portfolio. Costs may have to be made for these excursions. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 7 | Economic Geogr: Theory and Application | GEMEGTT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This module has two main aims. First, the course explores the current frontiers of the academic debate in Economic Geography. Second, it explicitly translates the theoretical and empirical insights in Economic Geography to the daily practice of local and regional economic development as practiced by policy makers and private consultants alike. The course is set against the backdrop of ongoing economic globalization, or counter developments in the wake of the corona crisis and its implications for local and regional economic development. The course will examine analytical concepts and theories, as well as empirical approaches to investigating economic geography. In this context, the course will introduce important current themes in economic geography, both from an academic point of view and from a societal stance. These current themes include the importance of human capital for innovation and development, Well-being and Happiness as alternative measures of development, and Territorial and Social inequality. Importantly, we will discuss ideas of regional resilience in the light of negative external shocks (such as a pandemic). Students will examine these issues in the context of The Netherlands, the European Union, and in terms of newly emerging and developing countries. The course explicitly asks how empirical and theoretical insights translate to the practice of local and regional development. For this, we will discuss pertinent policy options and tools, including city branding, business incentives and housing policies. Understanding the international practice of regional government is relevant in this as well, not in the least in preparation for a job in local development. Throughout the course we will pay attention to the practice of economic geography. This is made explicit in a series of online interviews with policy makers dealing with regional economic policies in the Netherlands and Europe and, travel restrictions permitting a two-day trip to Brussels to visit agencies involved in the regional policies of the European Union. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 8 | Engaging Society for Spatial Transformat | GEMESST | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We see the emergence of citizens and entrepreneurs who collectively take the lead in spatial transformation in the context of place-based development. Examples are initiatives in revitalizing of public space, self-governance in energy production, food, health-care or landscape maintenance, or fostering social cohesion in neighbourhoods and other meaningful everyday places. The course: 1) provides insight in theoretical perspectives on citizen’s engagement based on concepts such as transformation, transition, leadership, and collective action. 2) analyzes the engagement of society in spaces of interaction and the changing roles of spatial planning, resulting in coalitions and institutional arrangements. 3) pays specific attention to the (inter)subjective aspects of planning (motives and values). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 9 | Entrepreneurship & Regional Development | GEMERD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the course we focus on types of entrepreneurship and the effects of entrepreneurship on regional growth but also on regional patterns of entrepreneurship and whether or not specific environments can be more beneficial for entrepreneurship or not. Hence we learn in what ways entrepreneurship is beneficial for regional development and the possibilities for policy makers to use entrepreneurship as a policy instrument. Furthermore, we will also pay attention to how entrepreneurs (and regions) can prepare for the transitions in energy, climate and digitalization in the new economy. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 10 | Finance for Real Estate | GEMFINEW | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Value and value creation are central concepts of Corporate Finance. The value of an asset depends on the size, the timing and the risk of the expected cash flows generated by an asset. In this course, you will learn how to determine the value of any asset. You will apply these techniques to value financial securities and investment opportunities of companies. The course Finance for Real Estate provides the fundamentals to assess the financial attractiveness of real estate projects. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 11 | International Real Estate Markets | GEMINTREM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The real estate markets have become more integrated worldwide than ever before. Today, foreign investors, (real estate) service providers, manufactures, and developers play an important role in the demand and supply of space in domestic markets, and vice versa. In the meantime, significant economic, institutional, cultural differences exist among various markets which highlight opportunities as well as challenges in the process of globalization of real estate markets. In this course, we aim to provide a comprehensive analysis on the functioning and formation of international real estate markets. Specifically, we will analyze the international real estate markets from three aspects. First, user demand for real estate will be examined. The extent to which real estate demand is driven by users consuming the space is affected by the globalization of multinational corporations and by the trade patterns between major trading partners. We will elaborate on the classic trade theories and theories on multinational firms in order to understand the demand from real estate users. Second, we will investigate the real estate from the perspective of investors. Why investors favor real estate than other asset classes, for instance, bond and stocks? To answer this question, we will go through finance and investment theories and apply them to real estate assets with the focus of risk-return trade-off and potential diversification benefits from gaining exposure to real estate. Third, institutional settings within which international real estate markets operate are also key to the understanding of the functioning of international real estate markets. It contributes to our understanding why certain markets are more attractive to users/investors than others. In addition, it helps us to promote the development of market structures and institutions in new markets. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 12 | Life Tables and Population Projections | GEMPST22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The life table technique - in its original application – is used to describe the mortality pattern of a population, and results in the life expectancy. The technique can be generalized and applied to many research topics, such as population health, multi-regional dynamics, labour market demography, etc. Survival analysis consists in applying the life table technique to individual-level data on life events, which can answer a wide range of questions on the occurrence, timing and likelihood of these events (e.g. marriage, childbearing, migration, labour market, disease career). Clear links with causal modelling exist. Population projections estimate future population size and structure. Key to population projections is the cohort component method which involves (a) the formulation of assumptions for each of the components, i.e. fertility, mortality and migration, and (b) the implementation of these assumptions using the Leslie model which implies a matrix formulation. In this course, first the life table technique will be taught, followed by the population projection methodology, and subsequently survival analysis. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 13 | Living Lab Sustainable Places | GEMLLSP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Students analyse spatial challenges of a real life case in order to formulate a provocative yet viable, credible and well-documented policy advice, inspired by a central theme. The advice shows how to transform a location under investigation into a more sustainable place. Sustainability is understood from an integral perspective (people, planet, profit). Place is considered from a relational perspective, as the outcome of all sorts of structuring (political-economic, ecological, social-cultural) processes that stretch beyond geographical boundaries. The students concentrate on a case located near Groningen city. Socio-spatial data, policy documents, fieldwork days and interaction with the actual stakeholders feed into the analysis. During the case analysis a variety of inspiration sessions equip students with key tools and concepts. The theoretical insights that this course provides during this process, as well as those taught in previous courses, are deployed by the students to come to a proper understanding of a case. The policy advice presents the case with an appealing and authentic vision on its future. The assessment takes place on the basis of the quality of the analysis, the advice, the group process and the individual reflection. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 14 | Master Internship | GEMSTAGE05 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Students do an internship at an international or Dutch organisation where they are involved in projects and tasks related to their study programme and level of education. The internship provides students the possibility to develop more practical experience and skills in the field of study, to gain more insight into personal strengths, ambitions and points of development, and to enhance their professional orientation. At the end of the internship, students can present their findings in different ways. Also, they reflect on their experiences and the extent to which they have achieved their personal learning goals. Internships will provide you with the opportunity to gain relevant work experience outside a university setting. This means that the placement will not only provide you with a unique personal learning experience, but it will also contribute to the development of your professional and academic career. It is worth noting that due to the breadth and the interdisciplinary character of your programme, you are relatively free to choose the placement of your choice. These placements could include a profit or non-profit setting, public or private, a large international organisation or a small non-governmental organisation (NGO). For example, some students choose to do a placement in a large international organisation such as the EU or UN, whilst others others like to work for a municipality or for an NGO. It is important to note that you, the student, are expected to actively and independently search for a placement. The searching process and application process are important parts of the learning process as well as dealing with problems during the internship. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 15 | Master's Thesis Population Studies | GEMTHPOPST | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Students participate in research projects of the Population Research Centre or the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute. Students can choose from a list of topics and first work out their research proposal. The topic is either analytical demographic or socio-cultural demographic in nature. The protocol for the Master thesis comprises the guidelines to assist students and supervisors in activities concerning the project. Throughout the year, Master thesis seminars, instructions and milestones will be organized for input, feedback and the development of competences and skills. During the national Demographic conference (Dutch Demography Day) students will get the opportunity to meet established professionals in the field and to reflect on their research work. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 16 | Migration, Families and Households | GEMMFH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This course encompasses the three main types of residential relocations: residential mobility, internal and international migration, in relation to family and household dynamics. A life course perspective is used to determine how migration of individuals (at the micro level) is shaped by events in individual lives, such as leaving the parental home, marriage, divorce, child birth and retirement. It also examines how life events of significant others such spouses, children and parents shape migration decisions of the individual. The course contextualizes the manner in which the decision to migrate is influenced by the family and the household (at the meso level) and the housing and labour markets as well as welfare regimes (at the macro level). The course takes a critical view on the inequalities people experience either on migration or due to migration both within and outside family and household settings. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 17 | Nature, Landscape and Heritage | GEMNLH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Natural, heritage and landscape values of the rural and urban environment are studied to understand the different appreciations and valuations of places and areas in society. During lectures, attention will be paid to the birth and evolution of the idea of the preservation of the past and its paradigmatic transformation into heritage, with a specific focus on cultural, natural and geoheritage. The main contemporary issues and controversies surrounding heritage and identifications in pluralistic societies will also be addressed, including practical examples during (guest) lectures. Theoretical approaches of ecology, biodiversity and the landscape biography method will be introduced. To fully understand the complexity of the variety in landscape perceptions, knowledge on historical landscape development will be provided during lectures, (self-guided) excursions and presentations. The academic theories on nature values, heritage and landscape perception will be compared with the professional practice by several company visits. By analysing a self-chosen landscape, a landscape biography will be written in which historical and current relationships between biotic, abiotic and human factors (including perceptions) of (natural) landscapes will be connected. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 18 | Planning Theory | GEMPLANTH | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The aim of the planning theory course is to gain more in-depth knowledge of the theoretical background of planning in such a way that the student can identify suitable existing planning and decision-making models for issues at hand. The student will also be able to picture a planning issue within a theoretical frame, through which an approach and its consequences can be deduced. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 19 | Population, Health and Place | GEMPOPHP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Health and demographic processes influence each other throughout the life course, and are shaped by the geographical and socioeconomic context. This module is about the links between demography, health, and place or geography. In the course, we adopt a population and an individual level perspective, as well as a global and a local perspective. At the population (macro) level, we examine demographic developments and compare differences in health outcomes across the globe. We will investigate determinants and patterns of health inequalities. At the individual (micro) level, we will unravel the interlinkages between health and the life course in different contexts. We look, for example, at how ageing and health are perceived in different cultural and societal contexts. A central aim of this course is the introduction of theories and approaches that help us understand how health outcomes are shaped at the individual and the population level and how these are interlinked. The theories will build up to a framework to understand the different facets of population health. They also provide a link between case studies presented by various guest lecturers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 20 | Qualitative Research Methods | GEMQRM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The purpose of this course is to introduce Master students to qualitative research in geography and tourism studies, and to prepare them in the skills, techniques, and knowledge necessary to undertake independent research using this methodology. The course is organized around (most of) the contents of the handbook ‘Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography’ (edited by Iain Hay, 4th edition). In addition to theory about qualitative research methods, students will practice qualitative research in a small group project. The first half of the term will cover issues related to qualitative research design and practice. It addresses issues of power, ethics, rigour and culture, as well as the methods interviewing, participant observation, and participatory research approaches. Students will be presented with a variety of research examples from active researchers in the faculty of Spatial Sciences, and they will discuss these in class. This part of the term will be concluded with an exam based on the readings and research presentations. The second part of the term is dedicated to a student research project, and will address methods of data analysis. We also discuss writing up qualitative research and communicating this to wider audiences. This part of the term is concluded with a company visit and student presentations based on the research conducted during the course. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 21 | Real Estate and Land Supply | GEMRELS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The relation between real estate and land is intricate. The square meter price of land in a metropolitan city like New York may be many times the price of those of peripheral cities, while real estate construction costs may be the same in both places. Public squares and city parks seem to have no economic value, but may generate major attractiveness to private real estate around it. Sustainable development seems to require new, greener, buildings, in the short term, but restricting the urban use of land appears to be better for energy use and mobility, also in the long term. In the context of such issues, understanding how economic processes shape configurations of real estate and land is of major importance. Developing such understanding is central to this course. This course in Real Estate and Land Supply is designed to develop students’ scientific analytical thinking about the economics and sustainable value of real estate and land developments. The course as such has two aims. The first is to develop and sharpen our thinking about these fundamental mechanisms. Which fundamental mechanisms are at work in the many individual real estate and land developments that take place anywhere along the urban-rural continuum? The second aim is to evaluate the local economic values related to land development through spatial GIS analysis. How is a particular (re)development project situated? We learn to value changes that take place at different spatial levels as we move from the project level to local to international levels. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 22 | Real Estate Investment | GEMREI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As a popular asset class, real estate has attracted attention from both the individual and institutional investors who aim to achieve portfolio diversification, better asset liability management and inflation protection. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the risk and return characteristics associated with investing in both residential and commercial real estate. This course will focus on investments in commercial and non-commercial properties, and mortgages. Specifically, we will start with property investment analysis by introducing various property valuation models and risk-return analysis. Within residential real estate investment, we will focus on the determinants of investment potential of single family housing and how to formulate sound investment analysis of potential target properties which consists of analysis of fundamentals and the establishment of market valuation. With respect to commercial real estate investment, we will first introduce the basic knowledge of rent, lease, and market forces that affect the observed rents. Next, we will concentrate on the various valuation methods of commercial real estate, i.e. sales comparable approach and income approach. Finally, we will establish investment analysis of potential target properties in terms of their associated risk and return. In the second part of the course, we will get acquainted with various mortgage products, i.e. fixed rate and variable rate mortgages and their respective risk and return characteristics from lender’s perspective. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 23 | Regional Labour Market Analysis | GEMRAMA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The labour market is by definition a regional market because of the limitation of the daily commuting distance. In the Regional Labour Market Analysis module, first of all the general notions of the functioning of the labour market will be explained in terms of individual labour market decision, leading to aggregate supply and demand, investment in education, family policies and retirement decisions. Attention will also be paid to regional differences in the functioning of the labour market with regard to unemployment, employment, wages, labour market participation, labour productivity, education, etc. There will also be a focus on spatial interactions between and within regional labour markets through migration and commuting, as well as the possibilities and limitations of regional labour market policy. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 24 | Reinventing Environmental Planning | GEMREENVPL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The course discusses recent changes in the field of environmental planning related to the emergence of sustainable development as a prime governance guideline. The course explains how sustainable development challenges the reliance on reactive and regulatory based policies that have long been common in environmental planning in many countries. Sustainable development is presented as a call for more proactive policies that integrate environmental concerns in overall governance activities. These calls for governance renewal are connected to wider shifts in both planning theory and practice, away from command and control policies towards a richer variety of policy approaches, inspired by for example market processes, public and private partnerships, communicative rationality, transition management and multi-level governance. While discussing recent changes in environmental planning, students are invited and stimulated to develop a critical and constructive attitude, while drawing on a ‘post-contingency’ perspective for identifying various theoretical arguments supporting and doubts regarding these changes. Students will subsequently be shown examples of changes in environmental planning, related to five dominant environmental issues: urban development, nature and biodiversity, climate change, air pollution and energy. Students will be invited during a written essay exam to critically discuss and reflect on recent changes in environmental planning. Finally, through assignments, students need to show their ability to make theoretically supported and well-argued choices between different planning strategies and measures when faced with different issues and circumstances. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 25 | Social Impact Assessment | GEMSOCIMAS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Social Impact Assessment (SIA) can be simply defined as the processes of managing the social issues of projects. To some extent, SIA is the social equivalent of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and is part of the impact assessment family (which also includes Strategic Environmental Assessment, Biodiversity Impact Assessment, Health Impact Assessment, Human Rights Impact Assessment, Technology Assessment), but over time SIA has developed to be mostly about the management systems used to address social issues (at multiple levels) rather than just being a regulatory tool to determine whether project approval should be given. Sometimes, it is called ‘Social Performance’. SIA does work with regulatory agencies to contribute to decision-making and approval processes; however SIA also works with the proponent of a development plan to improve projects through project (re)design, site selection, and design and implementation of mitigation measures and monitoring programs. In addition, SIA works with project financiers (especially international financial institutions) to determine social risks and whether project financing should be approved. Finally, SIA works with NGOs to ensure projects meet international standards; and SIA works with impacted communities to assist in coping with change and planning for positive futures. SIA is best conceived as a discourse or paradigm about the management of the social issues of projects, and as being much more than the technocratic or bureaucratic procedure EIA is. This course enables students to learn about the important role SIA can play in assisting in the better implementation of planned interventions (projects, plans, policies, programmes). Upon completion of the course, students will have an increased awareness of the social impacts of spatial interventions and will be able to put this learning into practice. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 26 | Spatial Analysis with GIS | GEMSPANGIS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This course deals with spatial analysis within Geographic Information Systems. Theory and literature will be explained in lectures, whereas the students learn to apply various spatial analysis techniques with practical exercises. Both theory and practice are assessed in a case study research, which is preferably related to the master thesis research of the student. The student needs to have basic GIS knowledge and skills when starting the course (see prerequisites). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 27 | Transitions in Water Management | GEMTRWATM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Due to continuous urbanisation and the increasing impacts of climate change, flood risks in delta areas are increasing, and, as a consequence, water management is high on the international political and societal agenda. Worldwide, the need is recognized to develop strategies and measures to adapt land use to the already occurring effects of climate change, and to develop integrated and adaptive approaches for dealing with water issues in low-lying urban deltas. The development and implementation of these integrated and adaptive approaches is however not an easy task, as they often involve a substantive and/or governance transition in water management. Drawing on a theoretical exploration of the nature of water transitions (including the notions of flood resilience and adaptability in both planning and design), and the way in which transitions can be managed, the course focuses on identifying current transitions in water management in relation to climate change, and on discussing issues and dilemmas in the attempts to manage these water transitions in establishing resilient delta areas. Through a group assignment, students will develop the capacity to suggest practical strategies and possibilities for water transition management for specific planning situations. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 28 | Transport Geography | GEMTG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Students will acquire a thorough understanding of the relationships between transport mobility (i.e., the demand for travel), the development of infrastructure (supply side) and the wider economic development of places and regions. They will be able to apply this understanding to specific examples of transport infrastructure development. They will be able to point out the pros and cons of infrastructure projects on the basis of the travel demand and the expected spatial structuring effects and economic effects, as well as relate these to the relevant government policy to be carried out. The course is based on the continuous demand for new or improved transport infrastructure projects, in the Netherlands and in other countries, and the (public) discussion between advocates and opponents of specific infrastructure projects. A number of lectures will set out the main themes within transport and economic geography concerning: ‘need and urgence’ of infrastructure development, stakeholder involvement, and, spatial and (regional) economic impacts of infrastructure projects. A mid-term written exam will be based on obligatory literature underlying the lectures and on information provided during the lectures. At the beginning of the course groups will be formed and example projects will be chosen. They will concern recently completed new or improved transport infrastructure projects (e.g., railroad, road or airports). Students will prepare presentations and write a report on these projects in groups. They will individually prepare written critical or provocative statements related to the chosen projects, but generated from the body of scientific knowledge, which will then be debated. Presentations, reports and statements will try to explicitly link theoretical knowledge of the relationship between transport mobility, infrastructure development, economics and space to social considerations concerning costs, benefits and feasibility. The course ends with a presentation of the group project in 'workshops'. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 29 | Urban and Regional Economics | GEMURE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The course starts by examining the spatial behaviour of individual firms from a theoretical perspective. The analysis is then extended to groups of firms and phenomena such as industrial clustering and agglomeration are explored both theoretically and empirically. This provides the rationale for analysing the economy of a city, its economic, social and industrial structure, and the behaviour of the various real estate markets operating within the city. We extend the argument to examine the multiplier linkages which operate between different sectors within cities and regions, and then integrate the role which labour migration and employment search processes play in the economic adjustment processes of cities and regions. The course also provides an introduction to relatively recent literature on the urban and regional economics of happiness and well-being. To that end, it examines the spatial behaviour of individuals from a spatial economics of happiness perspective, considering individual, geographical and socio-economic contextual factors that pertain to individual and socio-spatial well-being as well as relevant urban, regional and national government policy implications. The 28 hours of lectures will be complemented with 4 hours of computer classes. These computer classes will introduce students to Geographical Information Systems and spatial modelling techniques and to how they can be used to examine and evaluate a range of spatial economic phenomena. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 30 | Working with Data in Population Research | GEMWDPR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The course provides an overview of quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection, their implications in terms of ethics and privacy, and sources and measures used in population-level demographic analysis. The course follows the successive steps of data collection and analysis in population research. Data collection techniques such as focus-group discussion, in-depth interviewing, observation, census, civil registration, survey, and mixed-methods design are critically reviewed and, when possible, applied. Data quality is discussed through quality assurance frameworks, modes of interview and participants recruitment. Ethical considerations are emphasized throughout the whole research cycle, notably in terms of privacy regulations, data management, and reproducibility. Data exploitation is addressed through coding of primary data, acquisition of secondary data, and computation of major demographic measures of population structure and growth, fertility and mortality rates, and their comparison across populations. The course combines formal teaching sessions with online learning material and practical activities, such as group discussions, classroom practical sessions, and computer labs. A special focus is given to research validity and integrity, such as the choice of the adequate method to answer a given research question, evaluation of data quality, and researcher’s attitude. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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