GE2204 Cities in Transition
Collated Essay Questions by Topics
Studying Cities
To what extent can the history of urban settlements in Asia be explained by the
emergence of transnational corporate capitalism from the middle of twentieth
century? (AY13/14 Sem 1)
According to Michael Pacione (2009), the concept of the ‘urban’ has become
redundant in large part because we are all urban no matter where we live. Provide
reasons and examples to support or refute this claim. (AY10/11 Sem 1)
Critically evaluate any two approaches that have been used by urban geographers to
study an urban phenomenon or landscape. (AY10/11 Sem 1)
What can the study of “skyscraper geography” (Pile, 1999) tell us about the political,
economic and cultural conditions of a city? Discuss with reference to at least two
paradigms in urban geography. (AY09/10 Sem 1)
Critically evaluate Pacione’s (2005) claim that the concept of the ‘urban’ has in some
sense become redundant and that it is neither fruitful nor appropriate to study the
city in its own right. (AY08/09 Sem 1)
Structuralism and Humanism are often seen as two opposing approaches in the
study of urban geography. Evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of these
two approaches with reference to an urban phenomenon. (AY08/09 Sem 1)
Mega Cities
Cities aren't full poor people because cities attract poor people with the prospect of
improving their lot in life (Glaeser, 2011: 70). Critically evaluate this statement with
reference to megacities in Asia. (AY13/14 Sem 1)
Why, despite all their problems, do megacities continue to attract rural migrants?
What strategies can be deployed to reduce the proportion of national populations
concentrated in megacities? Answer with reference to the experience of specific
megacities in Asia. (AY12/13 Sem 1)
Mega Cities (Liveability)
Singapore is increasingly cited as a model for various aspects of urban planning and
development. In what ways can megacities in Asia draw upon the Singapore
experience to improve their liveability? What are the limits to the applicability of
Singapore-as-model? (AY12/13 Sem 1)
Global Cities
Although global cities are often vaunted for their wealth and power, they also have
been critiqued for showing evidence of social polarization. Explain what is meant by
“social polarization” and evaluate the extent to this concept is applicable to
contemporary Singapore. (AY13/14 Sem 1)
Using the case of the social polarization thesis, explain the dangers associated with
seeking to generalize from the experiences of a single city or from cities in a
particular region of the world. (AY12/13 Sem 1)
To what extent is the polarisation thesis useful for understanding urban social and
economic transformations in globalizing cities? (AY10/11 Sem 1)
To what extent is the global city thesis proposed by Saskia Sassen useful for
understanding socio‐economic transformations in cities? (AY09/10 Sem 1)
Discuss how the polarisation thesis may be critically applied to global city formation
and its ‘spill over’ effects beyond the confines of national boundaries. (AY08/09 Sem
1)
Ordinary Cities
Why do a number of urban geographers argue that more academic attention needs
to be given to small cities? To what extent do you agree that this shift is necessary?
(AY13/14 Sem 1)
Central City Landscapes – Place Marketing
Hallmark events have often been used as a key urban strategy to brand cities. In light
of critiques of the strategy, evaluate the recent staging of the Formula One Grand
Prix in Singapore. (AY13/14 Sem 1)
Critically evaluate whether the staging of hallmark events such as the recent Formula
One Grand Prix can be considered a successful urban place‐marketing strategy in
Singapore. (AY09/10 Sem 1)
The Formula One Grand Prix held in Singapore in September 2008 reportedly cost
S$150 million to stage. Critically discuss both the costs and benefits of staging such a
hallmark event in light of what you have learnt in the module about urban place‐
marketing. (AY08/09 Sem 1)
Central City Landscapes
What are some of the measures that city planners have adopted to 'tame unruly
cities' (Hall and Barrett , 2012)? To what extent do you think they are successful? Use
specific examples to substantiate your arguments. (AY13/14 Sem 1)
Critics have contended that Singapore’s state-led urban entrepreneurialism (which
includes a strategy of “seeking world-class, worldwide”) has resulted in what
architect Rem Koolhaas has described as a city which is “all foreground, no
background”, i.e. a city with a world-class urban landscape but lacking a local identity
and image. With reference to Singapore’s downtown, present a convincing argument
as to why you agree or disagree with this point of view. (AY12/13 Sem 1)
Using examples drawn from Singapore and elsewhere, evaluate the potential and
limits of the so-called ‘Bilbao effect’ and discuss whether the relative success of the
Bilbao model can be replicated elsewhere in the world? (AY11/12 Sem 1)
According to Pacione (2009), planning legislations such as the PPG6 in England have
to some extent prevented the decline of city centres in the UK. Drawing on specific
case studies, critically examine the various strategies that planning agencies around
the world have enacted to rejuvenate the downtown and prevent their ‘hollowing
out’. (AY11/12 Sem 1)
The northern Spanish city of Bilbao was recently conferred the 2010 Lee Kuan Yew
World City Prize for its successful effort in urban regeneration. Amongst some of the
urban policies enacted by the Bilbao city government is the use of iconic urban
projects to revitalize urban districts. Critically examine the potential and limits of the
so‐called ‘Bilbao effect’ and whether the success of Bilbao may be replicated
elsewhere in the world? (AY10/11 Sem 1)
Retail Landscapes
In the documentary ‘Malls R Us’, contemporary shopping malls are compared to
sacred spaces in terms of their urban design and function. To what extent do you
think this is a valid comparison and how might ‘new’ approaches in the study of
retail geography shed light on this phenomenon? (AY11/12 Sem 1)
Using specific examples, critically analyse Wrigley & Lowe’s (2002) claim that ‘retail
investment [is] continually on the move, creating, then abandoning, then
rediscovering, spaces of profit extraction’. (AY0/08 Sem 1)
Residential Landscapes
How are suburbs in Asia different from those found in the North American context
(Hayden, 2003)? Critically examine the extent to which critiques on 'Western'
suburbia also applicable to Asia. (AY13/14 Sem 1)
Spaces of consumption are said to offer the consumer a site of individual and
collective dreaming where the spectacle of the space can be consumed. Critically
evaluate the applicability of this statement to the way that either retail or residential
spaces have evolved in globaliz(ing) cities since the mid-twentieth century. (AY12/13
Sem 1)
The term ‘suburbia’ encompasses more than just a form of residential development
but also signals a new way of life. How are suburbs in Asian cities different or similar
to those found in North America? Does the rise of suburbia in Asia pose the same
types of challenges as those typically profiled in the urban studies literature?
(AY11/12 Sem 1)
To what extent has privatized urbanism, typically associated with gated residential
communities in North American cities, been transplanted to other urban places
around the world? (AY10/11 Sem 1)
Discuss whether the “gated community” can be considered a distinctive model of an
American‐style privatised urbanism that is now being transplanted around the world.
(AY09/10 Sem 1)
Can private condominium estates in Singapore be considered ‘gated communities’?
How are they different from or similar to gated communities found in North
American cities? (AY07/08 Sem 1)
City in Nature, Nature in City
What does it mean to say that there is no such thing as a 'green city? Discuss this in
relation to contemporary debates on urban sustainability. (AY13/14 Sem 1)
According to the architect/urban planner Carl Elefante, ‘the greenest building is the
one that is already built’. Critically discuss this claim in relation to the construction of
‘green buildings’ in Singapore and other cities. (AY11/12 Sem 1)
Do you agree that cities provide the inevitable contrast with the ‘natural’? Provide
examples to show how the tensions between ‘urban’ and ‘nature’ have been
addressed through specific urban interventions and ‘solutions’ such as the building
of eco‐cities. (AY10/11 Sem 1)
Would you agree that “eco‐city” development represents nothing more than a form
of “green washing” that has largely failed to address urban environmental problems?
Elaborate your answer with reference to any existing “eco‐city” development in the
world. (AY09/10 Sem 1)
How can ‘urban sustainability’ be defined? Does it make sense to talk about
sustainable urban development given that the nature of city is inherently
exploitative? (AY08/09 Sem 1)
Critically examine the proposition that ‘urban sustainability’ is an oxymoron.
(AY07/08 Sem 1)
Information Technology and Mobility
It has been argued that within the last decade, developments in information
technology have had the potential to impact the journey to work and other urban
travel patterns of urban residents. Drawing upon evidence from at least one city in
Asia and one in Europe, evaluate the extent to which information technology has
impacted the mobility gap for these cities more generally, and different groups of
residents more specifically. (AY12/13 Sem 1)