Urbanization and Development Multidisciplinary Perspectives

by Beall, Jo; Guha-Khasnobis, Basudeb; Kanbur, Ravi

• ISBN13: 9780199590148
• ISBN10: 0199590141
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

By many estimates, the world has recently crossed the point where more than half the global population is urban, a trend driven by rapid urbanization in developing countries. Urban centres offer economies of scale in terms of productive enterprise and public investment. Cities are social melting pots, centres of innovation, and drivers of social change. However, cities are also marked by social differentiation, poverty, conflict, and environmental degradation. These are all issues that not only matter to cities, but also lie at the heart of development. As such, the time is right to consider afresh the relationship between cities and development. This volume presents a significant new collection of multidisciplinary papers focused on urbanization and its implications for development. It raises four questions: What is so special about the urban context? Why is urbanization and urban growth important to development at the present conjuncture? What are the strengths and limitations of our current state of knowledge about urbanization and development from the policy perspective? How can a multidisciplinary perspective on the urban context add value to development research and policy? Leading scholars in urban economics examine the data and definitions associated with the field, and look in-depth at the economic and social consequences of urbanization. Special focus is given to urban violence, and planning and governance issues, and the text is supplemented by case studies demonstrating the recent effects of urbanization in key countries such as India, Brazil, Tanzania, Lebanon, and South Africa.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. xi
List of Tables	p. xii
List of Boxes	p. xiv
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms	p. xv
Notes on Contributors	p. xvii
Introduction
Beyond the Tipping Point: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Urbanization and Development	p. 3
Data and Definitions
Urban Settlement: Data, Measures, and Trends	p. 19
Agglomeration Index: Towards A New Measure of Urban Concentration	p. 41
Parsing the Urban Poverty Puzzle: A Multi-Generational Panel Study in Rio de Janeiro's Favelas, 1968-2008	p. 60
Urban Myths and the Mis-Use of Data that Underpin Them	p. 83
Economic Benefits of Urbanization
Evolving City Systems	p. 103
Suburbanization and Residential Desegregation in South Africa's Cities	p. 124
Urbanization: Social Consequences
The Face of Urban Poverty: Explaining the Prevalence in Slums in Developing Countries	p. 143
The Legacy Effect of Squatter Settlements on Urban Redevelopment	p. 165
The Gendered Nature of Asset Accumulation in Urban Contexts: Longitudinal Results from Guayaquil, Ecuador	p. 183
Urban Violence
Violent Urbanization and Homogenization of Space and Place: Reconstructing the Story of Sectarian Violence in Beirut	p. 205
Dar es Salaam as a 'Harbour of Peace' in East Africa: Tracing the Role of Creolized Urban Ethnicity in Nation-State Formation	p. 219
Urban Violence Is Not (Necessarily) a Way of Life: Towards Political Economy of Conflict in Cities	p. 235
Urban Planning and Governance
Infrastructure and City Competitiveness in India	p. 251
Solid Wastes, Poverty, and the Environment in Developing Country Cities: Challenges and Opportunities	p. 268
Building Sustainable Historic Centres: A Comparative Approach for Innovative Urban Projects	p. 285
Epilogue
Themes Emerging, Questions Outstanding, and the Value of a Multidisciplinary Approach	p. 305
Index	p. 315
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