Exploring popular culture and sustainable urban planning
Where do Disney superheroes and French urban planners meet? In Val d’Europe — a new town east of Paris, co-planned by the French public development agency EpaMarne-EpaFrance and The Walt Disney Company. Home to more than 50,000 residents and welcoming over 12 million international tourists per year, Val d’Europe is at once an experiment in public-private collaboration, a laboratory of sustainable urban planning, and a showcase of spatial storytelling and urban theming.
In this block seminar, we read the city: drawing on theories of urban planning, theming, intermediality, and superhero studies, we will combine guest lectures, class discussions, and on-site field research to explore how popular culture and sustainable urban planning shape this unique European city. And yes, we will visit Disneyland Paris, too!
SDGs 11 & 17 · Competences: Intercultural Knowledge and Competence, Problem Solving
Reading Paris is one of four 5-ECTS building blocks of the Aurora micro-credential flower.
