In the aftermath of both ongoing globalisation (with both widening and deepening effects on countries, regions and cities) and structural changes resulting from the 2008 economic recession, regions and cities in our world are confronted with a different arena of players, performances and institutions. The challenges are formidable and numerous. Many regions and cities seem to resort to their indigenous strength, without much regard to other players in the field. This has enormous consequences for the competitive behaviour and profile of regional and urban actors but has at the same time deep impacts on the distribution of wealth, income and employment over and within countries, regions and cities. There is indeed much evidence that disparities among regions and in cities are increasing in this new force field. This special issue of REGION makes a solid scientific attempt (i) to map out the spatial consequences of recent transitions in growth trajectories of countries or regions, and (ii) to trace policy strategies and design effective policy information, to cope adequately with these new challenges. The present special issue does so by highlighting the new force field of regional and urban dynamics from three angles in the context of spatial quality and inequality. These will be briefly sketched below.

Examining the changing nature of cities in the face of smart technology, this book studies key new challenges and capabilities defined by the Internet of Things, data science, blockchain and artificial intelligence. It argues that using algorithmic logic alone for automation and optimisation in modern smart cities is not sufficient, and analyses the importance of integrating this with strong participatory governance and digital platforms for community action.

Fragments of Inequality merges sociological, geospatial, and economic explanations of global inequality into a grand synthesis of the subject that breaks new ground by stressing the phenomenon's spatial foundations. Concentrating on inequality within and between regions, the book demonstrates that spatial inequality has increased in recent years. It employs modified evolutionary principles (i.e., punctuated equilibrium; not entirely smooth and linear in terms of chronological development) rather than the more abstract ones of rationality and self-interest that economists use, and on a fragmented rather than abstract conception of space. Global in its empirical coverage, it also addresses the current impact of economic globalization.

This book is the sixth in a series covering bet practices in community quality-of-life (QOL) indicators. The cases in this volume describe communities that have launched their own community indicators programs. Elements that are included in the descriptions are the history of the community indicators work within the target region, the planning of community indicators, the actual indicators that were selected, the data collection process, the reporting of the results, and the use of the indicators to guide community development decisions and public policy. ​

"This report is based on data from UN-HABITAT's Global Urban Indicator Database, as well as surveys of, and focus group discussions with, selected representative groups of young people in five major cities located in four developing regions: Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Mumbai (India), Kingston (Jamaica), Nairobi (Kenya) and Lagos (Nigeria)"--p. ix.

This report examines the economic and socio-economic trends in Chile’s urban areas; it analyses four policy areas with significant implications for national urban programming, and it examines possible approaches for revitalising the urban governance.

Implications of this study -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 7: Geographical evolution of railway network development -- Introduction -- China's railway speed-up and HSR development -- Implications of railway speed-ups on regional development -- Implications for local accessibility -- Conclusion -- Note -- References -- Chapter 8: Market reform, land development and urban vibrancy -- Introduction -- Economic implications of land and housing marketization -- Urban vibrancy pattern in a modern-day Chinese city -- Mechanisms -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- PART IV: Conclusions -- Chapter 9: Concluding remarks -- Transformation of Chinese cities in politically biased urban hierarchies -- Planning for spatial agglomeration -- Planning for infrastructure development -- Planning for city vibrancy -- Planning for reshaping the economic geography -- References -- Index

Metropolitan areas are home to a significant proportion of the world’s population and its economic output. Taking Mexico as a case study and weaving in comparisons from Latin America and developed countries, this book explores current trends and policy issues around urbanisation, metropolisation, economic development and city-region governance. Despite their fundamental economic relevance, the analysis and monitoring of metropolitan economies in Mexico and other countries in the Global South under a comparative perspective are relatively scarce. This volume contains empirical analysis based on comparative perspectives with relation to international experiences. It will be of interest to advanced students, researchers and policymakers in urban policy, urban economics, regional studies, economic geography and Latin American studies.

Cities are perhaps one of humanity's most complex creations, never finished, never definitive. They are like a journey that never ends. Their evolution is determined by their ascent into greatness or their descent into decline. They are the past, the present and the future. Cities contain both order and chaos. In them reside beauty and ugliness, virtue and vice. They can bring out the best or the worst in humankind. They are the physical manifestation of history and culture and incubators of innovation, industry, technology, entrepreneurship and creativity. Cities are the materialization of humanity's noblest ideas, ambitions and aspirations but when not planned or governed properly, can be the repository of society's ills. Cities drive national economies by creating wealth, enhancing social development and providing employment but they can also be the breeding grounds for poverty, exclusion and environmental degradation. The 21st Century is the Century of the City. Half of humanity now lives in cities, and within the next two decades, 60 per cent of the world's people will reside in urban areas. How can city planners and policymakers harmonize the various interests, diversity and inherent contradictions within cities? What ingredients are needed to create harmony between the physical, social, environmental and cultural aspects of a city and the human beings that inhabit it? This report adopts the concept of Harmonious Cities as a theoretical framework in order to understand today's urban world, and also as an operational tool to confront the most important challenges facing urban areas and their development processes. It recognizes that tolerance, diversity, social justice and good governance, all of which are inter-related, are as important to sustainable urban development as physical planning. It addresses national concerns by searching for solutions at the city level. For that purpose, it focuses on three key areas: spatial or regional harmony, which examines the main drivers of urban growth in the developing world and explores the spatial nuances of economic and social policies; social harmony, which presents and analyzes new data on urban inequalities worldwide and describes the types of shelter deprivations experienced by slum dwellers in developing world regions; and environmental harmony, which examines the role of cities in the climate change debate, and the impact of global warming on the most vulnerable cities. The report also assesses the various intangible assets within cities that contribute to harmony, such as cultural heritage, sense of place and memory and the complex set of social and symbolic relationships that give cities meaning. It argues that these intangible assets represent the soul of the city and are as important for harmonious urban development as tangible assets. Harmony within cities, argues the report, is both a journey and a destination. Published with UN-HABITAT

We live in the ‘urban century’. Cities all over the world – in both developing and developed countries – display complex evolutionary patterns. Urban Empires charts the backgrounds, mechanisms, drivers, and consequences of these radical changes in our contemporary systems from a global perspective and analyses the dominant position of modern cities in the ‘New Urban World’. This volume views the drastic change cities have undergone internationally through a broad perspective and considers their emerging roles in our global network society. Chapters from renowned scholars provide advanced analytical contributions, scaling applied and theoretical perspectives on the competitive profile of urban agglomerations in a globalizing world. Together, the volume traces and investigates the economic and political drivers of network cities in a global context and explores the challenges over governance that are presented by mega-cities. It also identifies and maps out the new geography of the emergent ‘urban century’. With contributions from well-known and influential scholars from around the world, Urban Empires serves as a touchstone for students and researchers keen to explore the scientific and policy needs of cities as they become our age’s global power centers.