Urban development theory, policy and practice provides a background for critical understanding of the urban development process and its theoretical underpinnings in developed and developing countries. It looks at cities within the intellectual framework of urban planning theory and policy, and international development theory, paying special attention to regional perspectives. It examines approaches of national and international agencies to understand how development theories translate into donor policies and how they are operationalized in the field. Case studies are used to examine the evolution of cities in different contexts. The course encourages debates of politics and planning in cities from the perspectives of theory, policy and practice. Topics include urban planning, postmodernism, global population change and urbanization.