Assignment 1: literature review, for the 4500-5000 word final report. The system boundary for this project is broad, within the overall domain of sustainability and habitability in the built environment. It involves the critical investigation of a place, or an identified subset of qualities of a place, from a sustainability/habitability perspective, reflecting:

- A consistent theoretical framework which identifies, draws on and references the relevant literature;

- Your observations and other empirical evidence (quantitative and/or qualitative);

- Interaction with and between the users of the place; and

- Your own background and experience.

Your place can be a street, a neighbourhood, a building, a park, etc.

This investigation will inevitably raise questions about the interaction between people and place: not only how the place is used, but why, and its contribution (positive or negative) to sustainability and habitability. In turn this begs the question of whether and how this may be improved, and to what extent more general conclusions can be drawn.

Assignment 1 involves three stages:

1. Project proposal – you are required to submit a proposal of no more than 500 words (one page Word document) in which you identify your place, why you have selected it, and what aspect(s) you propose to investigate. This will be reviewed, feedback provided and any potential problems highlighted before you begin your substantive research. As this is “formative” assessment, proposals will not be marked, however submission is compulsory. Proposals must be submitted to the course convener as email attachments.

2. Preparation of a literature review and theoretical framework (pdf format, email attachment, approx. 1500 words) relating to your place and your interactions with it.

3. The final report is to submitted as a Turnitin assignment via Moodle

The format of your final report should follow the general structure of a journal article or conference paper, including a clear context (how the project relates to the subject matter of this course), scope, objectives, a critical review of the relevant literature, an outline of the methodology and an exposition of your findings, conclusions and recommendations.

Marks will be awarded based on assessment of the clarity of your argument and explanation, the perceptiveness of your observations and your critical skills in evaluating and drawing on the literature you have selected.

This assignment must be fully referenced using the Harvard (author, date) system. Assignments are to be submitted to the course convener via Turnitin on Moodle. If you have a legitimate reason for a late submission, you must make a formal request for Special Consideration (see http://www.be.unsw.edu.au/student-intranet/academic-policies). Otherwise late submissions will only be accepted at the discretion of the course convener, and marks will be deducted.