Over the next 20 years, most low-income countries will, for the first time, become more urban than rural. Understanding demographic trends in the cities of the developing world is critical to those countries - their societies, economies, and environments. The benefits from urbanization cannot be overlooked, but the speed and sheer scale of this transformation presents many challenges. In this uniquely thorough and authoritative volume, 16 of the world's leading scholars on urban population and development have worked together to produce the most comprehensive and detailed analysis of the changes taking place in cities and their implications and impacts. They focus on population dynamics, social and economic differentiation, fertility and reproductive health, mortality and morbidity, labor force, and urban governance. As many national governments decentralize and devolve their functions, the nature of urban management and governance is undergoing fundamental transformation, with programs in poverty alleviation, health, education, and public services increasingly being deposited in the hands of untested municipal and regional governments. Cities Transformed identifies a new class of policy maker emerging to take up the growing responsibilities. Drawing from a wide variety of data sources, many of them previously inaccessible, this essential text will become the benchmark for all involved in city-level research, policy, planning, and investment decisions. The National Research Council is a private, non-profit institution based in Washington, DC, providing services to the US government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The editors are members of the Council's Panel on Urban Population Dynamics.

Written in a clear and concise style, this Modern Guide provide a timely overview and comparison of urban challenges and national urban policies in 13 European countries, addressing key issues such as housing, urban regeneration and climate change. A team of international contributors explore the gap between the rise of international urban agendas and variegated national urban policies, examining whether a more bespoke approach is better than the traditional ‘one size fits all’.

By the end of the twentieth century, over half of the world's population will be urban. The urban future will in large measure determine the world future. In the next two decades the world will undergo, as a result of the urbanization process, the most radical changes that it has ever experienced in social, economic, and political life. Historically, the city has often been the place where civilization has blossomed. One of the dominant characteristics of the late twentieth century, however, is the inability of cities to cope with economic, social, and environmental problems. Population and the Urban Future contributes to a better understanding of the problems and needs of population in the urban future. This study grew out of an International Conference on Population and the Urban Future, sponsored by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), which took place in Rome, Italy, from 1 to 4 September 1980.

Originally published in 1986, this book focusses on life within global cities in the developing world, analysing on a city-level the circulation and consumption of goods and services within them. When the book was first published it was one of only a few to offer systematic comparative analyses of developing world cities, and those stemming from different regions, with examples from different continents in each chapter. It discusses the problems faced by such city populations and shows how the procedures, distributive systems and social conventions reflect the complex histories of the cities, most of which have been subject to colonial rule, and of their inhabitants, many of whom are either migrants or first generation citizens.

By the end of the twentieth century, over half of the world's population will be urban. The urban future will in large measure determine the world future. In the next two decades the world will undergo, as a result of the urbanization process, the most radical changes that it has ever experienced in social, economic, and political life. Historically, the city has often been the place where civilization has blossomed. One of the dominant characteristics of the late twentieth century, however, is the inability of cities to cope with economic, social, and environmental problems. Population and the Urban Future contributes to a better understanding of the problems and needs of population in the urban future. This study grew out of an International Conference on Population and the Urban Future, sponsored by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), which took place in Rome, Italy, from 1 to 4 September 1980.