Politics and the Urban Frontier
Despite the rise of global technocratic ideals of city-making, cities around the world are not merging into indistinguishable duplicates of one another. In fact, as the world urbanizes, urban formations … Continue reading
Is urbanisation in the Global South fundamentally different? Comparative global urban analysis for the 21st century
A vigorous debate has emerged in recent years over how to understand cities of the Global South. A pivotal issue in this debate is whether urbanisation processes in the South … Continue reading
Urbanization in the Developing World: Too Early or Too Slow?
We describe patterns of urbanization in the developing world and the extent to which they differ from the developed world. We consider the extent to which urbanization in the developing … Continue reading
Inclusive economic growth in Kenya: the spatial dynamics of poverty
Kenya poses a conundrum. Its top-line economic growth has been impressive and it has been one of the fastest-growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade. However, poverty has … Continue reading
Moving urban political ecology beyond the ‘urbanization of nature’
Urban political ecology (UPE) focuses on unsettling traditional understandings of ‘cities’ as ontological entities separate from ‘nature’ and on how the production of settlements is metabolically linked with flows of … Continue reading
Unaffordable and Undrinkable: Rethinking Urban Water Access in the Global South
In 2015, UNICEF and the World Health Organization reported that over 90% of the world’s population used improved drinking water sources. But new research suggests the indicators used by UNICEF/WHO … Continue reading
The Rise of the Urban Creative Class in Southeast Asia
This report examines the intersection of urbanization and the rise of the new creative or middle class in Southeast Asia. In particular, it assesses the connection between the rise of … Continue reading
Rethinking sustainable cities: Accessible, green and fair
Sustainable urbanisation has moved to the forefront of global debate, research and policy agendas over recent years. Rapid urbanisation throughout China, India and many other low and middle income countries … Continue reading