Introduction to demography (theory, indicators, methods and data sources) and the analysis of demographic trends and challenges from a global, comparative and historical perspective. The main processes of demographic change: fertility, mortality, migration and urbanization, with special attention to the causes and consequences of these processes. Consequences of demographic change and population policies: population aging and sustainability of the welfare state; overpopulation, environmental and health risks; the processes of urbanization, segregation, spatial diffusion and networks; demography, poverty and economic growth.
1. Introduction to demography
2. Demographic theories: Malthus and the demographic transition
3. Demographic methods and data
4. Health and mortality transition
5. The fertility transition
6. Migration transition
7. The age transition: challenges of ageing
8. The urban transition
9. Family and household transition
10. Population growth and sustainability