The report will address the fundamental question for the module: How are conflic

The report will address the fundamental question for the module: How are conflicting imperatives of ecological sustainability, social inclusion and economic competitiveness being balanced by practitioners aiming to shape the development of a particular city or metropolitan area, and what implications does this have for those living there?
The report is your opportunity to show your research and evaluation of one of the planned interventions examined during the semester in a greater depth and on an individual basis:
It is expected that your report will show a grounded understanding of conditions in your chosen city, and that it will use figures/maps to demonstrate your familiarity with the spatial layout and structure of the city.
Your evaluation of that particular city may draw upon experiences from other cities where appropriate.
Your report will be based around one of the two cities and the related development project addressed within the scenarios.
Your evaluation will usually draw on upon research and reading undertaken through your group projects but is expected to develop this further.
Your report should be written as if it were a piece of critical commissioned research to be read by planning/development practitioners responsible for strategic city development, rather than an essay for an academic audience:
You can assume that the audience has some familiarity with the context of your city – there is no need to define basic terms that would be common knowledge there, although you should ensure that any descriptions of the city are backed up with research-based evidence wherever possible.
You may use subheadings to help structure your report, and other stylistic devices such as bullet points or text boxes are permitted.[ Appropriate examples of presentation and writing style can be found in two annual reports, UN-HABITAT’s State of the World’s Cities Report, or the World Bank’s World Development Report, although you are not required to produce an equivalent number of supporting illustrations/graphics as are present with these.] It is expected that the report will contain at least an executive summary, background, discussion, evaluation and recommendations.
You must still use correct academic referencing. Evidence or sources of ideas presented within your report should be properly referenced using the Harvard style.
Assessment criteria
You will be assessed on the following criteria, related to the learning aims of the module as a whole:
Does your report show knowledge of spatial planning systems in the city you have chosen: their organisation, operation and effectiveness?
Does your report show awareness of the political, legal and administrative structures in which spatial planning systems are embedded?
Does your report demonstrate your ability to analyse and synthesise knowledge by developing a reasoned evaluation of planning interventions in the city of your choice?
Additional advice:
Audience – just because this is a nominal ‘practitioner’ audience, this shouldn’t alter your critical evaluation – you don’t have to be polite about errors/oversights in city plans!
Emphasis – you need to explain key concepts that underlie your evaluative framework, but briefly: the bulk of the report should focus on how they are being applied to your city
Do draw the report together with an analytical conclusion
Do include reference to academic sources for the ideas you are drawing on (particularly with respect to the question of how you are evaluating the plans for the development of your city)
Do include sources for key statistics mentioned
You may ‘recycle’ images/graphics that have already been used within your groups’ reports
Bibliography, figure captions, etc. should not be included in the word count: the 2,500 words is for the main text only