Urbanization and Development

From the contents:
Introduction; 1: Jo Beall, Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis, and Ravi Kanbur: Beyond the Tipping Point: A Multidisciplinary Perspective on Urbanization and Development; Data and Definitions; 2: David E. Bloom, David Canning, Günther Fink, Tarun Khanna, and Patrick Salyer: Urban Settlement: Data, Measures, and Trends; 3: Hirotsugu Uchida and Andrew Nelson: Agglomeration Index: Towards A New Measure of Urban Concentration; 4: Janice E. Perlman: Parsing the Urban Poverty Puzzle: A Multi-generational Panel Study in Rio de Janeiro's Favelas, 1968 - 2008; 5: David Satterthwaite: Urban Myths and the Mis-use of Data that Underpin Them; Economic Benefits of Urbanization; 6: Henry G. Overman and Anthony J. Venables: Evolving City Systems; 7: Wim Naudé: Suburbanization and Residential Desegregation in South Africa's Cities; Urbanization: Social Consequences; 8: Ben C. Arimah: The Face of Urban Poverty: Explaining the Prevalence of Slums in Developing Countries; 9: Ignacio A. Navarro and Geoffrey K. Turnbull: The Legacy Effect of Squatter Settlements on Urban Redevelopment; 10: Caroline Moser and Andrew Felton: The Gendered Nature of Asset Accumulation in Urban Contexts: Longitudinal Results from Guayaquil, Ecuador; Urban Violence; 11: Nasser Yassin: Violent Urbanization and Homogenization of Space and Place: Reconstructing the Story of Sectarian Violence in Beirut; 12: Deborah Fahy Bryceson: Dar es Salaam as a 'Harbour of Peace' in East Africa: Tracing the Role of Creolized Urban Ethnicity in Nation-State Formation; 13: Dennis Rodgers: Urban Violence Is (not) Necessarily a Way Of life: Towards a Political Economy of Conflict in Cities; Urban Planning and Governance; 14: Somik V. Lall, Hyoung Gun Wang, and Uwe Deichmann: Infrastructure and City Competitiveness in India; 15: Martin Medina: Solid Wastes, Poverty and the Environment in Developing Country Cities: Challenges and Opportunities

Ravi Kanbur is T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs at Cornell University, having previously taught at Oxford, Cambridge, Essex, Princeton, and Warwick. He has served on the senior staff of the World Bank, including as resident Representative in Ghana, Chief Economist for Africa, Principal Adviser to the Chief Economist of the World Bank. He has published in the leading economics journals, including the Journal of Political Economy, The American Economic Review, andthe Economic Journal.

Urbanization and Development: Multidisciplinary Perspectives provides a stimulating account of opportunities as well as challenges that the low and middle-income countries face. Abdul Khakee, Scienze Regionali - Italian Journal of Regional Science This is a vital collection of essays exploring the full spectrum of perspectives on the connections between urbanization and human progress in the global South. It should be essential reading for academics and decision-makers in development studies, economic development, spatial planning, policy analysis and urban and regional studies. Ivan Turok, Deputy Executive Director, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa This volume is a welcome addition to the growing urban literature, particularly for exploring a multi-disciplinary approach to the relationship between cities and development and, equally, for recognising the hope and opportunity that cities can offer. William Cobbett, Manager, Cities Alliance Thorough and authoritatively written; it makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of urban issues from a multidimensional perspective. The book also emphasizes the importance of the urban context in addressing developmental issues- a feature previously lacking in development policy. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) This collection presents state of the art findings on cities and development which draw on a wide range of different but equally rigorous approaches from a variety of disciplines. It suggests some fresh methodological starting points for both academic and policy research on cities. It stages conversations amongst disciplinary perspectives which are currently seldom drawn together, and sets the agenda for the innovative and interdisciplinary research which is needed to respond to the substantial challenges of city life around the world. Jennifer Robinson, Professor of Geography, University College London