Cities and Development
Sean Fox, Tom Goodfellow
- 340 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
Cities and Development
Sean Fox, Tom Goodfellow
About This Book
For the first time in human history more people now live and towns and cities than in rural areas. In the wealthier countries of the world, the transition from predominantly rural to urban habitation is more or less complete. But in many parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, urban populations are expanding rapidly. Current UN projections indicate that virtually all population growth in the world over the next 30 years will be absorbed by towns and cities in developing countries. These simple demographic facts have profound implications for those concerned with understanding and addressing the pressing global development challenges of reducing poverty, promoting economic growth, improving human security and confronting environmental change.
This revised and expanded second edition of Cities and Development explores the dynamic relationship between urbanism and development from a global perspective. The book surveys a wide range of topics, including: the historical origins of world urbanization; the role cities play in the process of economic development; the nature of urban poverty and the challenge of promoting sustainable livelihoods; the complexities of managing urban land, housing, infrastructure and urban services; and the spectres of endemic crime, conflict and violence in urban areas. This updated volume also contains two entirely new chapters: one that examines the links between urbanisation and environmental change, and a second that focuses on urban governance and politics.
Adopting a multidisciplinary perspective, the book critically engages with debates in urban studies, geography and international development studies. Each chapter includes supplements in the form of case studies, chapter summaries, questions for discussion and suggested further readings. The book is targeted at upper-level undergraduate and graduate students interested in geography, urban studies and international development studies, as well as policy makers, urban planners and development practitioners.
Frequently asked questions
Information
1 Development in the first urban century
- Defining ‘cities’ and ‘urbanisation’
- Defining ‘development’
- A (very) brief history of development theory, policy and practice
- Cities as problems, solutions and contexts
Introduction
Defining ‘cities’ and ‘urbanisation’
The essential physical means of a city’s existence are the fixed site, the durable shelter, the permanent facilities for assembly, interchange, and storage; the essential social means are the social division of labour, which serves not merely the economic life but the cultural processes.(Mumford 1937: 93–94)
[W]ithout the social drama that comes into existence through the focusing and intensification of group activity there is not a single function performed in the city that cannot be performed – and has not in fact been performed – in the open country’.(ibid.)
Country | Definition of an ‘urban’ settlement |
---|---|
Angola | Localities with 2,000 inhabitants or more. |
Australia | Urban centres with 1,000 inhabitants or more. |
Botswana | Agglomerations of 5,000 inhabitants or more where 75 per cent of the economic activity is non-agricultural. |
Burkina Faso | Localities with 10,000 inhabitants or more and with sufficient socio-economic and administrative infrastructures. |
Canada | Since the 1981 census, areas with 1,000 inhabitants or more and a population density of at least 400 inhabitants per square kilometre. |
Cuba | Places with 2,000 inhabitants or more, and places with fewer inhabitants but with paved streets, street lighting, piped water, sewage, a medical centre and educational facilities. |
Germany | Communes (‘kreisfreie Staedte’ and ‘Kreise’) with population density equal or greater than 150 inhabitants per square kilometre. |
India | Statutory places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee; and places satisfying the following three criteria simultaneously: (a) a minimum population of 5,000 inhabitants, (b) at least 75 per cent of male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits, and (c) a density of population of at least 400 per square kilometre. |
Iran | Districts with a municipality. In censuses before 1986, all county centres regardless of size and places with a population of 5,000 inhabitants and more. |
Kenya | Municipalities, town councils, and other urban centres with 2,000 inhabitants or more. |
Mexico | Localities with 2,500 inhabitants or more. |
Nigeria | Towns with 20,000 inhabitants or more. |
Pakistan | Places with municipal corporation, town committee or cantonment. |
United Kingdom | Settlements with 10,000 inhabitants or more. For the censuses up to 1971, administrative boundaries were used. |
Vietnam | Places with 4,000 inhabitants or more. |
Zimbabwe | Places officially designated as urban, as well as places with 2,500 inhabitants or more whose population resides in a compact settlement pattern and where more than 50 per cent of the employed persons are engaged in non-agricultural occupations. |