Short course
Counterplotting the Urban: Decolonial Sustainable Urban Development
Course status:
Closed to new applications
Location:
Online
Dates and time:
10/06/2026 - 10/06/202609:00 - 16:30
Study format:
Short intensive
Fees:
£160.00
Cities around the world still bear a legacy of colonial pasts. Contemporary practices in urban place management, development, and policy often reinforce entrenched narratives that foster inequality and segregation. It is vital to develop approaches that ‘counterplot’ these narratives and help deliver better urban environments for all citizens.
This course unpacks how colonialism continues to shape contemporary urban settings, particularly across the Global South. Participants will critically examine colonial logics embedded in urban development and placemaking that reinforce spatial inequalities, dispossession and exclusion. The course also addresses how practitioners can actively counteract these dynamics.
Key themes that will be covered during the event by expert speakers include path dependency, decolonial practice and counter-plotting.
Participants will be:
- Challenged to reimagine urban development through a decolonial lens.
- Equipped with the knowledge and tools to re-shape systems to address colonial injustice and co-create urban futures that are fair and just.
The course will be delivered online in an interactive, seminar-style format. We begin by establishing a strong foundation, bringing participants up to speed on core concepts and contemporary debates in decolonial theory in the urban. Through a series of case studies interwoven into each session, we will examine how colonial path dependencies continue to shape urban settings together with their social, cultural, and economic implications. In the final breakout session, we will collaboratively explore ways to counterplot against colonial logics in policy and practice, with the aim of advancing fairer and more just urban futures.
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09:00 Welcome & Introductions (Dr Desiree Daniel-Ortmann)
09:05 Inherited Paths: A look at Path Dependencies and the Reproduction of Colonial Logics (Dr Francesca Froy & Dr Desiree Daniel-Ortmann)
09:45 Colonial Legacies, Land Governance & Issues of Tenure in West Africa (Dr Timothy Adams)
10:50 Break
11:00 What We Preserve and What We Forget: The Making of Indian Cities, Colonial Heritage and Decolonial Urban Futures (Dr Pooja Rambhakta)
12:20 Break
13:15 The Coloniality of Energy Transitions in Urban Settlements (Dr Idalina Baptista)
14:20: Echoes of Empire: A Caribbean Perspective on Confronting Colonial Path Dependencies in the Contemporary City Through a Decolonial Lens (Ms. Gina Granado)
15:20 Break
15:25 Breakout Session (Dr Francesca Froy & Dr Desiree Daniel-Ortmann & Dr Pooja Rambhakta)
17:00 Close of Session (Dr Desiree Daniel-Ortmann)
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes of the course are:
- To establish a common understanding of coloniality’s role in shaping contemporary urban development and spatial injustice.
- To establish a common understanding of “post-colonial” vs “decolonial” in theory and practice
- To critically examine ways of counterplotting against spatial injustices in practice.
Dr Desiree Daniel-Ortmann (sustainable urban development, Oxford Lifelong Learning)
Dr Francesca Froy (sustainable urban development, Oxford Lifelong Learning)
Dr Idalina Baptista (sustainable urban development, Oxford Lifelong Learning)
Dr Pooja Rambhakta (cultural heritage and spatial planning)
Ms. Gina Granado (international relations, gender and development)
Dr Timothy Adams (land tenure, gender and development)
Certificate
Upon successful completion of this course, participants will receive a certificate of attendance.
Digital badge
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be issued with an official digital badge from Oxford Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford. After the course, you will receive an email with a link and instructions on how to download your digital badge. You will be able to add your badge to your email signature and share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Online Tuition: 10 June 2026 | £160.00 |
Payment
Payment of fees must be made in full at the time of booking.
Please note that businesses and organisations can be invoiced on provision of a Purchase Order and completed application form. These can be emailed to the CWHE Programme Administrator, email: cultural.heritage@conted.ox.ac.uk.
Module code: O25P260PAR
Please use the ‘Book’ or ‘Apply’ button on this page. Alternatively, please contact cultural.heritage@conted.ox.ac.uk to obtain an application form. Enrolments will close 3 weeks before course start date.