The Specialist program in City Studies (BA) will provide students with the skills and knowledge they will need to pursue specialized training at the graduate level in fields like public policy and municipal governance, urban planning, and community development, as well as other city-focused fields of studies. Students in the Specialist program will also have the opportunity to develop in-depth theoretical and conceptual knowledge in applied urban studies, quantitative and qualitative research and GIS skills, practical skills such as project management, facilitation and community consultation, and communication skills needed to succeed in a wide variety of urban professions. Students are encouraged to discuss the selection and sequencing of courses with the Program Advisor or Associate Chair (City Studies).
Enrolment Requirements
Enrolment in the Specialist is limited. Students may apply to enter the program after they have completed at least 4.0 credits, including the courses listed under Requirement 1 of the program.
Admission is based on overall academic performance and grades in the courses in Requirement 1 of the program; students must achieve a minimum CGPA of 2.5. For students applying with more than 8.0-10.0 credits, admission will be on the basis of CGPA in all City Studies (CIT) courses taken. Decisions regarding program admissions will be made only twice a year, in May and August, by the City Studies Supervisor of Studies, and will be based on student requests submitted to the Registrar through ROSI.
Program Requirements:
This program requires the completion of 12.0 credits as follows:
1. Introduction to Social Science Thought (1.0 credit from among the following):
ANTA01H3 Introduction to Anthropology: Becoming Human
ANTA02H3 Introduction to Anthropology: Culture, Society and Language
GGRA02H3 The Geography of Global Processes
GGRA03H3 Cities and Environments
[MGEA01H3 Introduction to Microeconomics or MGEA02H3 Introduction to Microeconomics: A Mathematical Approach]
[MGEA05H3 Introduction to Macroeconomics or MGEA06H3 Introduction to Macroeconomics: A Mathematical Approach]
POLA01H3 Critical Issues in Politics I
POLA02H3 Critical Issues in Politics II
SOCA03Y3 Introduction to Sociology
2. Foundations (0.5 credit):
CITA01H3/(CITB02H3) Foundations of City Studies
3. Core courses (1.5 credits as from the following):
CITB01H3 Canadian Cities and Planning
CITB03H3 Social Planning and Community Development
CITB04H3 City Politics
CITB08H3 Economy of Cities
4. Research Methods (2.0 credits):
GGRA30H3 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Empirical Reasoning
STAB23H3 Introduction to Statistics for the Social Sciences (or equivalent)
and
1.0 credits from the following:
GGRB30H3 Fundamentals of GIS I
GGRB03H3 Writing Geography
GGRC32H3 Essential Spatial Analysis
GGRC31H3 Qualitative Geographical Methods: Place and Ethnography
GGRC42H3 Making Sense of Data: Applied Multivariate Analysis
5. City Studies Applications (3.5 credits from among the following):
CITC01H3 Urban Communities and Neighbourhoods Case Study
CITC02H3 Placements in Community Development
CITC03H3 Housing Policy and Planning
CITC04H3 Current Municipal and Planning Policy and Practice in Toronto
CITC07H3 Urban Social Policy
CITC08H3 Cities and Community Development
CITC09H3 Introduction to Planning History: Toronto and Its Region
CITC12H3 City Structures and City Choices: Local Government, Management, and Policymaking
CITC14H3 Environmental Planning
CITC15H3 Money Matters: How Municipal Finance Shapes the City
CITC16H3 Planning and Governing the Metropolis
CITC17H3 Civic Engagement in Urban Politics
CITC18H3 Transportation Policy Analysis
6. Approaches to Cities (1.5 credits from among the following)*:
GGRB02H3 The Logic of Geographic Thought
GGRB05H3 Urban Geography
GGRB13H3 Social Geography
GGRC02H3 Population Geography
GGRC10H3 Urbanization and Development
GGRC11H3 Current Topics in Urban Geography
GGRC12H3 Transportation Geography
GGRC13H3 Urban Political Geography
GGRC27H3 Location and Spatial Development
GGRC33H3 The Toronto Region
GGRC40H3 Megacities and Global Urbanization
GGRC43H3 Social Geographies of Street Food
GGRC48H3 Geographies of Urban Poverty
POLB56H3 Critical Issues in Canadian Politics
POLB57H3 The Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights
POLC53H3 Canadian Environmental Policy
PPGB66/PPGC66H3/(POLC66H3) Public Policy Making
PPGC67H3/(POLC67H3) Public Policy in Canada
SOCB44H3 Sociology of Cities and Urban Life
*Note: these courses may have prerequisites that are not included in this program
7. City Studies Workshop (1.0 credit):
CITD05H3 City Studies Workshop I
CITD06H3 City Studies Workshop II
8. Advanced Applications (1.0 credit):
CITD01H3 City Issues and Strategies
CITD10H3 Seminar in Selected Issues in City Studies
CITD12H3 Planning and Building Public Spaces in Toronto
CITD30H3 Supervised Research Project
GGRD14H3 Social Justice and the City
