New Forms of Urbanization Beyond the Urban-Rural Dichotomy

About this book

There is increasing appreciation in the social sciences that context is an important element in understanding social, economic, cultural, political and demographic processes. An important element in context is the type of settlement in which people live and work and so, it is vital to be able to categorize people into particular settlements types. This book brings together a team of social scientists to present information on urbanization around the world, highlighting examples of development patterns that are not adequately captured by the UN's type of reporting systems and drawing attention to other ways of representing current trends.

Contents

Introduction: Introduction - moving beyond the urban-rural dichotomy, Tony Champion and Graeme Hugo; Lest we re-invent the wheel - lessons from previous reviews, Tony Champion; World urbanization - trends and prospects, Hania Zlotnik. Regional Perspectives on Settlement Change: The fading of city-suburb and metro-nonmetro distinctions in the United States, William H. Frey; Population dynamics and urbanization in Latin America - concepts and data limitations, Alfredo E. Lattes, Jorge Rodriguez and Miguel Villa; Urbanization trends in Asia - the conceptual and definitional challenges, Gavin W. Jones; Analyzing urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa, Philippe Bocquier. Case Studies: The transformation of the urban system in Mexico, Gustavo Garza; Urban development and population redistribution in Delhi - implications for categorizing population, Veronique Dupont; Urbanization and metropolitanization in Brazil - trends and methodological challenges, Jose Marcos Pinto Cunha; Changing urbanization processes and in situ rural-urban transformation - reflections on China's settlement definitions, Yu Zhu. Conceptualizing Settlement Systems: An evolutionary approach to settlement systems, Denise Pumain; The conceptualization and analysis of urban systems - a North American perspective, Larry S. Bourne and Jim Simmons; The nature of rurality in postindustrial society, David L. Brown and John B. Cromartie; Rethinking rurality, Keith Halfacree. Moving From The Conceptual To The Operational: Multiple dimensions of settlement systems - coping with complexity, Mike Coombes; Using remote sensing and geographic information systems to identify the underlying properties of urban environments, John R. Weeks; Reflections on the review of metropolitan area standards in the United States, 1990 - 2000, James D. Fitzsimmons and Michael R. Ratcliffe. The Way Forward: Conclusions and recommendations, Graeme Hugo and Tony Champion.

Customer Reviews