This book provides research on urban and rural developments. Chapter One reviews Japanese tourism-based community development and provides recommendations for development options in Japan. Chapter Two identifies the main challenges of territorial impacts of sectoral and territorially based policies. Chapter Three addresses mollusk gatherers in the main traditional communities of northeastern Brazil and explores how these communities face problems in maintaining their exclusive living conditions and identities. Chapter Four analyzes a Nigerian case for urban growth and rural development. Chapter Five explicates Nigerias approach to the provision of infrastructure for urban housing. Chapter Six disentangles the poorly understood relationship between landfills and economic development. Chapter Seven examines professional sports franchises and city status. Chapter Eight discusses the planning implications of an Edge Sports Complex in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This book examines the challenges of urbanization in the global south and the linkages between urbanization, economic development and urban poverty from the perspectives of cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It focuses on various aspects of urbanization ranging from food security and public services like sanitation, water and electricity to the finances of cities and externalities associated with the urbanization process. The volume also highlights the importance of participatory urban governance for cities in India with comparative perspectives from other countries. It further focuses on the urbanization of poverty, livelihood in urban areas, overconsumption and nutrition and ecology. Based on primary data, the chapters in the volume review trends, opportunities, challenges, governance and strategies of several countries at different levels of urbanization, with several case studies from India. This multidisciplinary volume will be of great interest to researchers and students of development studies, sociology, economics and urban planning and policy. It will also be useful for policymakers, think tanks and practitioners in the area of urbanization.

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.

This book gives an interdisciplinary overview on urban ecology. Basic understanding of urban nature development and its social reception are discussed for the European Metropolitan Area of Berlin. Furthermore, we investigate specific consequences for the environment, nature and the quality of life for city dwellers due to profound changes such as climate change and the demographic and economic developments associated with the phenomena of shrinking cities. Actual problems of urban ecology should be discussed not only in terms of natural dimensions such as atmosphere, biosphere, pedosphere and hydrosphere but also in terms of social and cultural dimensions such as urban planning, residence and recreation, traffic and mobility and economic values. Our research findings focus on streets, new urban landscapes, intermediate use of brown fields and the relationships between urban nature and the well-being of city dwellers. Finally, the book provides a contribution to the international discussion on urban ecology.

The absence of consolidated and up-to-date literature dealing with various aspects of current urban problems and their implications for policy decision making has been acting as a lacuna for a long time. For urgent removal of this lacuna, a comprehensive fund of knowledge and understanding of an inter-disciplinary approach toward urban problems was desired to be developed. The present volume is the consequence of a collective attempt to unfold before the discerning reader thought provoking ideas derived from empirical studies, often breaking new grounds in respect of planning directives and policy guidelines. The contents of the book deal with a broad spectrum of subjects besides attempting in-depth analysis of manifold facets of emerging urban problems to focus attention on the need to adopt comprehensive policy framework in regard to urban land, housing, transportation and balanced urban and regional development with a perspective of tomorrow. It is hoped that this book would provide fresh approach to enable planners and others to effectively diagnose problems, assess their impact and prescribe appropriate solutions. The eminent personalities, contributing to this book, like Dr. Asok Mitra, Mr. Jagmohan, Mr. Sayed S. Shari, Dr. B.D. Nag Chaudhuri, Mr. H.U. Bijlani, Professor Rashmi Mayur, Mr. Alfred De Souza, Dr. P.G. Patankar, Mr. Ardhendu Bhattacharya etc. etc., are well known for their contributions in the field of Urban Planning and Development.

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.