Throughout this volume certain themes recur as key components of the urban crisis: among them widespread national poverty, the inextricable link between poverty and race, and the necessity for the national government to provide the resources, leadership and planning to combat urban problems. 'I can recommend the book highly. There is much material that is extremely useful in it, the essays have a high level of excellence and, on balance, the book is a careful and sober assessment of the present status of the central city.' -- American Political Science Review, Vol 64, June 1980

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Cities are not only home to around half of the global population but also major centers of economic activity and innovation. Yet, so far there has been no consensus of what a city really is. Substantial differences in the way cities, metropolitan, urban, and rural areas are defined across countries hinder robust international comparisons and an accurate monitoring of SDGs. The report Cities in the World: A New Perspective on Urbanisation addresses this void and provides new insights on urbanisation by applying for the first time two new definitions of human settlements to the entire globe: the Degree of Urbanisation and the Functional Urban Area.

Selected Contents: 1. Introduction2. Theories of Institutional Dynamics3. Political and Administrative Cities4. The Evolution of Political Cities5. The Evolution of Administrative Cities6. The Evolution of the Model City Charter7. The Discovery of Adapted Cities8. Probing the Complexities of Adapted Cities9. The Conciliated City10. Conclusions