This course provides students with theoretical and empirical understanding on how urban spaces are constructed and reconstructed by social political processes such as industrialization and the development of capitalism, rural-to-urban migration, urban renewal, suburbanization and deindustrialization, segregation and gentrification, immigration, technological innovation, and the changing relation between the built environment and human behaviour. It aims to teach students that spaces are not static geographical units, but are socially constructed and are overladen with unequal power relations and policy implications. In addition to basic theoretical concepts, case studies are also explored to help students better understand the relationship between theory and practice. Students are encouraged to design their own research projects on a specific topic related to urban dynamics in China.