First published in 2006

Despite the growing significance of the Third World and the critical nature of its urbanization, there are few synthetic books covering more than one region of the Third World which can be used either by scholars seeking an overview of the process of world urbanization or by students in the growing number of courses now being offered in the field of comparative urbanism.

The problem with urbanization studies

The most distressing problem was that the field of urbanization, particularly with reference to developing countries, seemed to us to have stagnated at theoretically-sterile conceptualizations or, even worse, had deteriorated into fragmented empirical-descriptive reports, whether observing with sympathy or noting with alarm the rapidly declining condition of individual cities.

The purpose of this book

This book attempts to rectify this deficiency.