"Designs 'R Us": MYP 4: Informal Cities

MYP 4 students are currently exploring the culture and environments of slums, informal cities, squatter communities, around the world in unison with Humanities in order to gain a deeper understanding of how and why 2 billion people live in these conditions. In this term's unit, "Urban Planning and Design for Small and Shrinking Spaces", students will be researching and designing innovative solutions to answer this question:

How are designs and plans being adapted to

accommodate the loss of space in dense urban areas?

Homework for Thursday:

1) Students, please research your chosen city slum (see me if you forgot). In your process journal complete the table listing the following (applied to your city):

Necessities of City Problems Facing My City Slum

List what a city needs What problems do you face
(look at notes, lists & as a citizen of your informal

think about discussions in class. city?

2) Write a narrative answering the following questions in the first person as if you are a citizen of the informal city you have been assigned. Be creative using actual facts you have found in your research. Remember you are trying to look through the eyes of a person your age living in that city community. If you have trouble, please reflect upon the life you lead, remember the videos we watched and think about how life could be different.

What does my neighborhood look like? What is my culture? Where is it located? (Country, culture, geography, language, location, neighborhood description and views).
What are my living conditions like? My home? Who do I live with?
What is my typical day like?
What do I love about this place? What is special? What is beautiful?
What problems do I face? What challenges do I have in my daily life? (Think compared to your own)
What do I wish I had access to? If I could change 5 things in my community, what would they be and why?
*You may add images to your blog post that you have found.
*Add links to the bottom of your blog post that share where you got your research from.

Some links to help you in your research, though you may use your own.

Informal City (slum) Life

Robert Neuwirth, Shadow Cities

Last Tourist in Cairo, Egypt