This course will provide an introduction to contemporary Chinese cities, with a focus on how urban architecture helps shape the way people live in the city and on how urban culture influences the way people build/rebuild cities in China. It will cover a broad range of topics, including China's urban development in the last 20 years, national economic reform and urbanization, the top 10 Mega-cities in China, skyscrapers and new urban landmarks, the cultural centre and the city's image, urban heritage and urban tourism, urban community and daily life, urban open space and public space, globalization and new building typologies, shopping malls and urban consumerism.

Through a series of teaching and learning activities such as lectures, class discussion and presentation, workshops and field studies, this course explores various aspects of the architectural impact on urban culture, or vice versa. It fits students who are interested in discovering the dynamics of contemporary cities in China and in investigating the urban environment and the challenge of urbanization.

This course will be taught by experts in Chinese architecture and urban study.