The teaching of urbanism in Brazil. Food for thought about a changing profession starting from the cases of the Universidade Federal de Goiás and the Politecnico di Milano.

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the teaching of urbanism in Brazil to get some interesting food for thought about the contemporary debate on the changing role of the planner and its education. Firstly, we will identify the general differences and similarities between the educational approach of Brazil and Ital, then we will focus on the courses of urbanism and planning offered by the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) and the Polytechnic of Milan (IT). Among the main questions we will try to address there are: does it make sense to speak about urbanism and planning as a specialist profession with a proper education (separated from architecture)? To what extent the internationalization is crucial in the education of urbanism and planning? Which are the opportunities and the limits of remote teaching (of urban studies) in a global society that is characterized by a big socio-economical divide? The research methodology includes bibliographic research, statistics, institutional documents and sectoral regulations, and it is completed with open interviews to local stakeholders. As main result, the article is meant to contribute to the discussion about the teaching of urbanism at global scale, with a look towards more just and not-discriminatory educational approaches.