Course Overview: Environmental issues have not always been first conceived as urban problems; however, as our world becomes ever more urbanized (and polluted), it becomes all too clear that many urban problems are environmental and vice versa. Moreover, as the ramifications of global warming become increasingly evident, we are pressed to make our cities more ecologically and socially sustainable. In this course we will ask questions such as: How does the environment shape cities? How do cities shape the environment? How did globalization, economic development, political shifts, and cultural ideas lead us to our current environmental situation? How do urban communities organize to protect and improve their environments? In what ways does climate change threaten urban areas and what kinds of policy measures and citizen actions are needed to mitigate it?