How can urban planners and architects reduce inequality in cities?

Suitable for 14 to 19-year-olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom or shared with students online.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 geography - development and urban studies.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

By 2030, the United Nations predicts that 60% of the world’s population will live in cities. While cities can provide residents with services and employment opportunities, rapid unplanned urban growth means these advantages are not available to everyone.

• This teaching resource explains the work the Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods. Led by Professor Ya Ping Wang at the University of Glasgow, UK, this collaboration brings together architects such as Dr Josephine Malonza at the University of Rwanda and urban planners such as Dr Shilpi Roy at Khulna University, Bangladesh, to explore how to improve urban environments. For example, as cities grow, what happens to individual neighbourhoods within them?

• This resource also introduces urban studies and the careers available in this field. There are interviews with Josephine and Shilpi. If you or your students have a question for them, you can submit it online – go to the article using the Futurum link below and scroll to the bottom of the page. Josephine or Shilip will reply!

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on the centre’s, and tasks them to think about urban planning in their area.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

If you like these free resources – or have suggestions for improvements –, please let us know and leave us some feedback. Thank you!