As the growing world population increasingly comes to live in cities, the field of urban geography will continue to expand in numbers and significance. This book encompasses both systems of cities and the internal geography of metro areas. It is a contemporary introduction to urban geography by a renowned scholar in the field.

This text is an introduction to the study of towns and cities. The book synthesizes a wealth of material to provide a comprehensive introduction for students of urban geography, drawing on a rich blend of theoretical and empirical information, to advance their knowledge of the city. For the first time in the history of humankind, urban dwellers outnumber rural residents and this trend is destined to continue. Urban places, towns and cities are of fundamental importance: for the distribution of population within countries; in the organization of economic production, distribution and exchange; in the structuring of social reproduction and cultural life; and in the allocation and exercise of power. Even those living beyond the administrative or functional boundaries of a town or city, will have their lifestyle influenced to some degree by a nearby or distant city.

Urban Geography a comprehensive introduction to a variety of issues relating to contemporary urban geography, including patterns and processes of urbanization, urban development, urban planning, and life experiences in modern cities. Reveals both the diversity of ordinary urban geographies and the networks, flows and relations which increasingly connect cities and urban spaces at the global scale Uses the city as a lens for proposing and developing critical concepts which show how wider social processes, relations, and power structures are changing Considers the experiences, lives, practices, struggles, and words of ordinary urban residents and marginalized social groups rather than exclusively those of urban elites Shows readers how to develop critical perspectives on dominant neoliberal representations of the city and explore the great diversity of urban worlds

This is the most comprehensive and readable book on urban geography in the array of contemporary literature on the subject.

Peter Taylor's compelling insights challenge us to view cities as part of a global network, divorced from the constraints of national or even regional boundaries.

This book embraces South Africa and its place in the Global South, providing a succinct theoretical and empirical analysis and discussion of urban issues in the country. There have been sporadic calls from the Urban Geography community for the development of an overarching and comprehensive text that explores contemporary processes and practices taking place in urban South Africa and, more widely, the Global South. This is an edited collection of chapters by leading urban theorists and practitioners working on various themes within urban South Africa and serves as a base for scholars and students interested in urban perspectives from countries in the Global South.