Neoliberalism’s market revolution has had a tremendous effect on contemporary mega-city regions. The negative consequences of market-oriented politics for territorial growth have been recognized. While a lot of attention has been given to how planners and policy makers are fighting back political fragmentation through innovative governance and planning, little has been done to reveal such practices through an international comparative perspective. Governance and Planning of Mega-City Regions provides a comparative treatment and examination of how new approaches in governance and planning are reshaping mega-city regions around the world. The contributors highlight how European mega-city regions are evolving and how strategic intervention is being redefined to enable the integration of urban qualities in a multi-level governance environment; how traditional federal countries in North America and Australia see the promise of major policies and development initiatives finally moving ahead to herald a more strategic intervention at national and regional scales; and how transitional economies in China witness the rise of state strategies to control the articulation of scales and to reassert the functional importance of state in a growing diffused power context. This book offers case studies written from a variety of theoretical and political perspectives by world leading scholars. It will appeal to upper level undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers, and policymakers interested in urban and regional planning, geography, sociology, public administrations and development studies.

For the first time in human history, more than half the world’s population is urban. A fundamental aspect of this transformation has been the emergence of giant cities, or megacities, that present major new challenges. This book examines how issues of megacity development, urban form, sustainability, and unsustainability are conceived, how governance processes are influenced by these ideas, and how these processes have in turn influenced outcomes on the ground, in some cases in transformative ways. Through 15 in-depth case studies by prominent researchers from around the world, this book examines the major challenges facing megacities today. The studies are organized around a shared set of concerns and questions about issues of sustainability, land development, urban governance, and urban form. Some of the main questions addressed are: What are the most pressing issues of sustainability and urban form in each megacity? How are major issues of sustainability understood and framed by policymakers? Is urban form considered a significant component of sustainability issues in public debates and public policy? Who are the key actors framing urban sustainability challenges and shaping urban change? How is unsustainability, risk, or disaster imagined, and how are those concerns reflected in policy approaches? What has been achieved so far, and what challenges remain? The publication of this book is a step toward answering these and other crucial questions.

This book focuses on spatial planning of megacities that are growing in Asia, Africa, and America. These cities are not be seen in isolation from their respective influence regions. They complement each other. Most of the solutions to the problems of such cities are found in their respective regions, and, on the other hand, the regions derive their strength from their respective megacities. There is a need for promoting integrated spatial planning of megacity regions. The five chapters in this book highlight the spatial planning of such regions.

Exploring the importance of megacities and megacity-regions as one of the defining features of the 21st century, this Handbook provides a clear and comprehensive overview of current thinking and debates from leading scholars in the field. Highlighting major current challenges and dimensions of megaurbanization, chapters form a thematic focus on governance, planning, history, and environmental and social issues, supported by case studies from every continent.

This book sheds light on the mega-city region development in China as a new form of urbanization which plays a crucial role in the economic development of the country. It examines the challenges faced by the mega-city regions and opens up avenues for debates and further research. Economic reform of 1978 has led to an unprecedented growth in the population and economic development of China. A large portion of this increased urban population and the corresponding economic growth has been concentrated in the mega-city regions, such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD). These three mega-city regions have less land but more people and thus higher economy, resulting in various issues and challenges faced by these regions. These challenges pertain to the socio-economic development, transport, environment, governance and development strategy, which this book explores through case studies of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Wuhan. This book also explains and analyses the economy, migration processes, transport development, environmental conditions and governance of the mega-city regions of China. With an overview of China’s rapid urbanisation and the consequent economic growth, this book provides an essential understanding of related issues in order to establish appropriate strategies and policies to sustain the process of mega-city region development.

Beyond Metropolis builds on studies conducted during the 1990s under the Centre for Human Settlements at the University of British Columbia.

Megacity development and the inherent risks and opportunities for humans and the environment is a theme of growing urgency in the 21st century. Focusing on Latin America where urbanization is most advanced, this book studies the complexity of a ‘mega-urban system’ and explores interrelations between sectors and issues by providing an in-depths study of one particular city, Santiago de Chile. The book attempts to (i) focus on the emergence of risk in megacities by analyzing risk elements, (ii) evaluate the extent and severity of risks, (iii) develop strategies to cope with adverse risks, and (iv) to guide urban development by combining concepts with empirical evidence. Drawing on the work of an interdisciplinary and international consortium of academic and professional partners, the book is written for scholars in cross-cutting areas of urban, sustainability, hazard, governance and planning research as well as practitioners from local, regional and international organizations.

The aim of this book is to investigate contemporary processes of metropolitan change and approaches to planning and governing metropolitan regions. To do so, it focuses on four central tenets of metropolitan change in terms of planning and governance: institutional approaches, policy mobilities, spatial imaginaries, and planning styles. The book’s main contribution lies in providing readers with a new conceptual and analytical framework for researching contemporary dynamics in metropolitan regions. It will chiefly benefit researchers and students in planning, urban studies, policy and governance studies, especially those interested in metropolitan regions. The relentless pace of urban change in globalization poses fundamental questions about how to best plan and govern 21st-century metropolitan regions. The problem for metropolitan regions—especially for those with policy and decision-making responsibilities—is a growing recognition that these spaces are typically reliant on inadequate urban-economic infrastructure and fragmented planning and governance arrangements. Moreover, as the demand for more ‘appropriate’—i.e., more flexible, networked and smart—forms of planning and governance increases, new expressions of territorial cooperation and conflict are emerging around issues and agendas of (de-)growth, infrastructure expansion, and the collective provision of services.

A distinctive feature of urbanization in the last 50 years is the expansion of urban populations and built development well beyond what was earlier conceived as the city limit, resulting in metropolitan areas. This is challenging the relevance of traditional municipal boundaries, and by extension, traditional governing structures and institutions. "Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development,” encompasses the reflections of thought and practice leaders on the underlying premises for governing metropolitan space, sectoral adaptations of those premises, and dynamic applications in a wide variety of contexts. Those reflections are structured into three sections. Section 1 discusses the conceptual underpinnings of metropolitan governance, analyzing why political, technical, and administrative arrangements at this level of government are needed. Section 2 deepens the discussion by addressing specific sectoral themes of mobility, land use planning, environmental management, and economic production, as well as crosscutting topics of metropolitan governance finance, and monitoring and evaluation. Section 3 tests the concepts and their sectoral adaptations against the practice, with cases from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe.

As urbanization continues, and even accelerates, scientists estimate that by 2015 the world will have up to 60 ‘megacities’ – urban areas with more than five million inhabitants. With the irresistible economic attractions of urban centers, particularly in developing countries, making the influx of citizens unstoppable, many of humankind’s coming social, economic and political dramas will be played out in megacities. This book shows how geographers and Earth scientists are contributing to a better understanding of megacities. The contributors analyze the impact of socio-economic and political activities on environmental change and vice versa, and identify solutions to the worst problems. They propose ways of improving the management of megacities and achieving a greater degree of sustainability in their development. The goals, of wise use of human and natural resources, risk reduction (both social and environmental) and quality of life enhancement, are agreed upon. But, as this text proves, the means of achieving these ends are varied. Hence, chapters cover an array of topics, from health management in Indian megacities, to planning in New York, to transport solutions for the chronically traffic-choked Bangkok. Authors cover the impact of climate change on megacities, as well as less tangible issues such as socio-political fragmentation in the urban areas of Rio de Janeiro. This exploration of some of the most crucial issues that we face as a species sets out research that is of the utmost importance, with the potential to contribute substantially to global justice and peace – and thereby prosperity.