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Arts & Communication Integrating films in city planning and urban design

the city from metropolitan to architectural scales, within urbanism. A special set of viewing and discussion exercises
which urban designers operate. For students from diverse has been developed for this purpose. This pedagogical
global backgrounds, films provide a common experience approach offers an innovative and novel way of examining
with cities without leaving the studio. the intersection of films and urbanism. It enables students
For urban planning and design students, films highlight to critically analyze the environments before them, acquire
the importance of narrative in developing projects. For knowledge on various theoretical approaches to cities and
urbanism students, the focus is on understanding the film, and develop analytical skills to engage film as a site of
composition, assembly, management, and use of public popular cultural and social production in a specific spatial
spaces. Students can also develop an understanding of the context. Students also understand historical approaches
interrelationship between film and the city, recognizing to city building through atmospheric and evolving film
the significant challenges and aspirations characterizing scenography, present ideas verbally, debate constructively
urbanism in both Western and non-Western contexts. This with colleagues, and develop written skills through essay
prompts critical questions: Can cinema envision new ways proposals and substantive papers that integrate into the
of developing, using, and living in the city? Can it do so by courses.
using images of the existing city? The film exercises and viewing, in general, digs primarily
Urban-location films utilize the city’s diverse and subtle into the dynamic relationship between cinema and urban
forms and spaces. Planners and designers can use these landscapes, focusing, of course, on urban forms and social
narratives to help evolve urban environments, prompting life but with a primary lens on two key dimensions:
them to ask: Is this design complex, rich, and subtle (1) Perception of urban city environments: Students will
enough to support multiple narratives constructed by me, explore how urban environments influence people
others, and time? Our uniquely developed filmography, and movie characters by examining how these settings
which comprises approximately 100 movies, reflects the shape identities, affect personal experiences, and call
complexity of trends, ideals, approaches, contexts, themes, individuals into social roles. These processes are deeply
and cases that the intersection of urbanism and film can intertwined with the material conditions of life in both
yield. real and fictional cities. Through this investigation,
Regarding filmography, the expanded list of movies in the students will learn how urban environments influence
studio offers a wider cinema and the city scope; the selected identity formation, social interactions, and personal
films and sources were chosen with specific analytical goals experiences. By analyzing films that depict various
in mind, aiming to provide a nuanced understanding of urban settings, students will learn to recognize the
how urban space is treated in cinema. This focused scope subtle and overt ways in which the built environment
emphasizes the benefits of depth over breadth, allowing for impacts human behavior and societal norms, as well
a more detailed and insightful exploration of the chosen as how the social life of urban form happens.
themes and cinematic techniques. The intention of having (2) Analysis of urban spaces and public places: Students will
such a unique, elaborate, and carefully chosen filmography be trained to view films with fictional and non-fictional
is to conduct a focused and in-depth analysis of the chosen narratives as profound analyses of historically specific
films. By concentrating on two distinct films in this paper urban spaces and the diverse life forms they nurture.
only, as case studies, we can delve deeper into their unique Special attention will be given to how films critique
treatment of urban space without diluting the analysis urban environments, particularly through the lenses
across a broader range of examples. This allows for a more of dystopian and utopian visions. This analysis will
detailed examination of each film’s specific cinematic involve understanding how cinematic representations
techniques and thematic concerns. In the studios and of cities reflect and challenge contemporary urban
modules with cinematic urbanisms, a wide array of movies issues, such as inequality, sustainability, justice,
will be discussed similarly depending on the specific theme and community cohesion. Students will develop
and field of study in urbanism at that moment. a multifaceted appreciation for cinema’s role in
mirroring and shaping our understanding of urban
The selected films are deliberately chosen for their
differences to highlight the varied ways in which urban space spaces by engaging with these films.
can be represented and interpreted in cinema. This diversity The class’s specially designed analysis, viewing, and
is intended to demonstrate the broad spectrum of urban synthesis exercises follow a seven-step original method
cinematic representation rather than suggesting a direct developed solely for this purpose:
comparison. The contrast between the films underscores the (1) Screening: Students watch feature films that explore
flexibility and range of cinematic techniques in addressing the connections between human activity and urban

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 10 doi: 10.36922/ac.4130