This book looks at slums and social exclusion in the four major megacities of India and Brazil, and analyzes the interrelationships between urban policies and housing and environmental issues. The challenges posed in Delhi, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro and Suo Paulo have spurred public reformers into action through housing, rehabilitation and conservation programs. Civil society and the inhabitants of these cities have also begun to get involved. On the other hand, one must wonder whether these challenges were partly created by the deficiencies of these very reformers and civil society, be it their lack of intervention (as advocates of government intervention would argue), or the flaws and inadequacies of their actions (as supporters of the free market would suggest). Are policies alleviating or aggravating social exclusion This book explores these questions and more.

The urban poor now constitute an unreached people group that is the third largest in the world—one that is doubling every decade and among the most responsive to the gospel. The most strategic and needed actions to reach this growing population with the gospel relate to breaking the bonds of injustice—sin, oppression, and poverty—and modeling Jesus' approach for social change by establishing movements of disciples among the poor. This revised edition of Cry of the Urban Poor reports the findings by Viv Grigg and his co-workers after years of living and working in the slums of some of the largest cities in Asia, Latin America, and the United States. It describes their efforts to discover universal principles for church-planting among the poor. This combination of anthropological and sociological reflections, integrated with principles drawn from practical experience, will challenge the missing emphasis on mission in the world's great city slums.

In a period of budget austerity, prioritization becomes especially important for defense policymakers. In order to determine such priorities, it is first necessary to consider the nature of conflict and missions the U.S. military may face in the future. By assessing the key components, or drivers, of the future security environment (FSE), an unknowable future becomes a bit clearer. This report provides such an assessment. Drawing on qualitative data such as national security and foreign policy literature, Defense Department strategy and operational documents, and interviews with leading academics and practitioners, this study identifies the drivers of the FSE in order to guide analysis and decision making.

Diverse driving forces, processes and actors are responsible for different trends in the development of megacities and large urban areas. Under the dynamics of global change, megacities are themselves changing: On the one hand they are prone to increasing socio-economic vulnerability due to pronounced poverty, socio-spatial and political fragmentation, sometimes with extreme forms of segregation, disparities and conflicts. On the other hand megacities offer positive potential for global transformation, e.g. minimisation of space consumption, highly effective use of resources, efficient disaster prevention and health care options – if good strategies were developed. At present in many megacities and urban areas of the developing world and the emerging economies the quality of life is eroding. Most of the megacities have grown to unprecedented size, and the pace of urbanisation has far exceeded the growth of the necessary infrastructure and services. As a result, an increasing number of urban dwellers are left without access to basic amenities like clean drinking water, fresh air and safe food. Additionally, social inequalities lead to subsequent and significant intra-urban health inequalities and unbalanced disease burdens that can trigger conflict and violence between subpopulations. The guiding idea of our book lies in a multi- and interdisciplinary approach to the complex topic of megacities and urban health that can only be adequately understood when different disciplines share their knowledge and methodological tools to work together. We hope that the book will allow readers to deepen their understanding of the complex dynamics of urban and megacity populations through the lens of public health, geographical and other research perspectives.

Cities are now home to 55% of the world’s population, and that number is rising. Urban populations across the world will continue to grow, including in megacities with populations over ten million. In 2016 there were 31 megacities globally, according to the United Nations’ World Cities Report, with 24 of those cities located in the Global South. That number is expected to rise to 41 by 2030, with all ten new megacities in the Global South where the processes of urbanization are intrinsically distinct from those in the Global North. The Routledge Handbook of Planning Megacities in the Global South provides rigorous comparative analyses, discussing the challenges, processes, best practices, and initiatives of urbanization in Middle America, South America, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. This book is indispensable reading for students and scholars of urban planning, and its significance as a resource will only continue to grow as urbanization reshapes the global population.

Crime, Violence, and Global Warming introduces the many connections between climate change and criminal activity. Conflict over natural resources can escalate to state and non-state actors, resulting in wars, asymmetrical warfare, and terrorism. Crank and Jacoby apply criminological theory to each aspect of this complicated web, helping readers to evaluate conflicting claims about global warming and to analyze evidence of the current and potential impact of climate change on conflict and crime. Beginning with an overview of the science of global warming, the authors move on to the links between climate change, scarce resources, and crime. Their approach takes in the full scope of causes and consequences, present and future, in the United States and throughout the world. The book concludes by looking ahead at the problem of forecasting future security implications if global warming continues or accelerates. This fresh approach to the criminology of climate change challenges readers to examine all sides of this controversial question and to formulate their own analysis of our planet’s future.