General objectives – General learning outcomes

The main aim of the course is to make students understand both technically and politically one of the most complex and important components of the structured space, the infrastructure networks, and to familiarize the future planner with the infrastructure sectors so that he can interact efficaciously with the respective engineers. These, in the context of promoting the interdisciplinary nature of education, with approaches that combine political economy, technical issues, and their spatial dimensions. It is also important to understand the causes and mechanisms behind the creation of infrastructure, and their spatial implications, as well as to sharpen the criterion of students in strategic issues, mainly at the national, regional, and metropolitan scale.

How they specialize in the following categories:
Knowledge

The aim is to gain the technical skills to understand the basic knowledge of the various infrastructure sectors from a technical point of view and their role in relation to the production process as well as their multifaceted impact on space. A key goal is, through basic technical knowledge, the ability of good communication with engineers of other fields (which is critical for the later profession) and at a theoretical level a deeper knowledge of socio-economic function, with an emphasis on the political economy aspect of infrastructure.

Skills

At these levels and in relation to the interface of the course with the other courses, students are expected to be able to analyze problems (through research, collection and utilization of material, i.e. through the knowledge mechanisms especially of data acquisition, selection, organization and synthetic presentation) to critically think in a reasoned way (in the sense of interpreting problems, analytically thinking, combining knowledge), and articulating proposals, as well as to use the knowledge and skills for further study.

The general skills that the student must have acquired at the end of the course are:

The way the course is taught puts emphasis on the following general skills:

• Search, analysis and synthesis of data and information, using the appropriate technologies (where necessary)

• Decision making
• Teamwork
• Work in an interdisciplinary environment
• Project design and management
• Promoting free, creative and inductive thinking

The course comprises three levels, theoretical, interdisciplinary and empirical, and aims to provide knowledge that ensures a common language with other specialities, including technological.
At the first level, the concepts of infrastructure and General Production Conditions are examined (issues of development phases, ownership status, infrastructure productivity, and its typology are developed). The question of market failure and the public nature of certain infrastructures are being discussed, and the concept of infrastructure is being linked to development theories. The critical economic policy approach is then formulated, and the concept of new infrastructures and the role of new technologies in infrastructure systems is introduced.

At the second level, the issues of technical approaches to infrastructure are discussed (indicators, tools, analysis methods), the national planning of infrastructure is presented as it is expressed through the Public Investment Program and the National Strategic Reference Framework, and the relevant procedures are presented. Then the European infrastructure policy and the relevant policies for the Balkans are analyzed. At this point, the EU planning processes leading to the development of Community Programs and Initiatives are examined.

At the third level, the different categories of infrastructure are examined, i.e. telecommunications, energy, transport, and hydraulic systems (water supply, sewerage, land improvement). The basic parameters of their technology, the systems and networks that each infrastructure constitutes, are examined. This is correlated to the European and Greek policy that has been launched, with reference to developments and problems in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and as to the spatial dimensions and importance of each category of infrastructure.

Evaluation criteria

Contribution to class and attendance 10%
Progress / work 30%
Written exams 60%

How the evaluation is done is directly related to the learning outcomes, as its primary goal is the confirmation of the understanding and the consolidation of the concepts and the content of the course.

Both with the progress exams and with the final examination, the understanding of the terms and concepts taught in the course (with multiple-choice questions, short answers, etc.) is checked and confirmed. At the same time, the ability of utilization and use of these concepts in real issues related to spatial planning is checked with essays and problem-solving. The grading method, the conditions and the weighting factors are known to the students from the beginning, while transparency is ensured by the possibility for the students to see their answers and to ask questions. In case of disagreement or objections, the procedure provided for all the courses of the Department is followed.

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• Note: For students developing a special interest (and for Erasmus Students) a wide international literature (mainly in English) is available which is in any case provided to the Master’s Programme students of a related course.