Volume 1 : Socio-Economic Transformations
The urbanizing of people and of societies has become one of the major trends of the last few decades. This urbanizing has long generated a diversity of formats. Besides the familiar formats we have known across time and place, there is now a proliferation of novel formats — private cities, gated communities, office parks that pretend to be cities and are experienced by many as such, and more. This proliferation of diverse ‘urban’ types ranges from cities occupying a territory so vast it is barely governed to small and fully managed towns. This chapter focuses on the diverse dynamics shaping urbanization across the world in order to understand how cities can become more just. In today’s world justice denotes environmental sustainability, well-being, access to basic services, cultural autonomy, gainful employment, and more. Given the massive budget deficits in most countries, especially in the global South, achieving justice demands a radical shift in the patterns of economic development. Cities can and must play a central role in this urgent.
socio-technical process