Urbanization is a defining feature of modernity and its history. Although the majority of the world population did not live in towns and cities before 2008, the experience of urban life offers a useful perspective on the making of the modern world. Centres of political power, cultural influence, and economic activity, towns and cities have long played a critical role in global history. As a result, urban disasters often threatened the long-term trajectories of cities and states alike as their human and material toll reverberated for years thereafter. From fifteenth-century Kos to Beirut in the late-twentieth century, the capacity of urban settlements to recover from environmental and man-made catastrophes revealed the strengths and the weaknesses of their social fabric. Urban reconstruction also brings to light many issues of great importance to modern historians: the link between the built environment and local identity, the nature of social cohesion, the relationship between state and civil society, the emergence of transnational solidarity, etc.
This learning unit will introduce students to urban history by focussing on the most extreme examples of urban crises since the pre-modern era. It will combine general and comparative discussions with individual case-studies that will inform our collective reflection. Those will include cities destroyed by earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, floods, and industrial accidents. We will also consider the post-conflict reconstruction of cities and the impact of deindustrialization and economic decline.
For an overview of the case studies covered in this learning unit, please click here.
Learning Community Activities
Upcoming Events
The Learning Community aims to host cross-campus projects and games for students. It has also plans to develop a guided tour of Coventry and a podcast.
Past Events
Disaster Briefs
Course leaders and students have the opportunity to collaborate on creative assessments such as ‘Disaster Briefs’, illustrated here in videos by EUTOPIA contributor Will Morris (UW).
Lectures:
‘Why write a history of urban disasters?’ – On the 13th December 2022, Dr Pierre Purseigle delivered a guest lecture as part of Professor Anne Winter’s ‘Urban History’ module. This lecture was attended by students enrolled on the History MA or Urban Studies MA at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). It entailed an overview of the history of urban disasters and explored the importance of studying the history of these events.
How to get involved?
(Students and educators)
Contact the EUTOPIA curriculum team: Jo Angouri (J.Angouri@warwick.ac.uk) and Karen Triquet (karen.triquet@vub.be)