First published in 1985, this book reconsiders the whole question of urbanisation and planning in the Third World. It argues that public involvement, which is now an accepted part of Western planning, should be used more in Third World cities. It shows that many inhabitants of Third World cities are migrants from rural areas and have very definite ideas about what the function of the city should be and what it ought to offer; and it goes on to argue that therefore a planning process which involves more public participation would better serve local needs and would do much more to solve problems than the contemporary approach.

First published in 1999, this volume examines India and Bombay, countries which represent some of the world's most dramatic examples of rapid urban growth. One of the strategies frequently adopted by the Indian authorities to cope with this urban growth is the development of new towns, such as New Bombay, which is India's largest and most significant urban planning experience since Independence. The New Bombay model, based on a specific planning and financing strategy, is considered highly successful and so is increasingly being copied and implemented in other urban areas of India. This volume makes the first independent evaluation of New Bombay and sets it in a wider Third World urban development context. As well as analysing the processes of physical and economic growth, the volume also examines the process of social development and, in particular, the consequences of this planning concept for the urban poor.

First published in 1986, this reissue is concerned with the increased social problems, regional imbalances, and economic dislocation resulting from the alarming growth rate of cities in the developing world. It considers theoretical questions and contains wide-ranging case studies to support the arguments made. It relates urbanisation in the developing world to changes in the broader global economic system, as well as looking at the urbanisation process over time.

Given the end of the cold war, economic development of the Asia-Pacific region, the emergence of Neo-Liberal democratisation and the further marginalisation of Africa in the global political economy, this book provides a timely theoretical analysis of current trends in the third world/global politics.

First published in 2006. Despite the growing significance of the Third World and the critical nature of its urbanization, there are few synthetic books covering more than one region of the Third World which can be used either by scholars seeking an overview of the process of world urbanization or by students in the growing number of courses now being offered in the field of comparative urbanism. The most distressing problem was that the field of urbanization, particularly with reference to developing countries, seemed to us to have stagnated at theoretically-sterile conceptualizations or, even worse, had deteriorated into fragmented empirical-descriptive reports, whether observing with sympathy or noting with alarm the rapidly declining condition of individual cities. This book attempts to rectify this deficiency.

Urbanization is a key process in developing countries. Within the next decade over 50 per cent of the world's population will inhabit urban areas and the majority of this growth is concentrated in developing countries. Analysing data for four large countries, this volume focuses on the relationship between economic change and urban growth. Specifically the authors examine the continued growth of industrial employment at the expense of the agricultural sector, the impact of government-controlled regional and industrial policy and the role of migration in response to employment opportunities. There are also important chapters on government responses to the lack of basic infrastructure, and the resulting negative impact on human welfare, in the cities. The volume's coherence results from the cross-country comparisons made by the authors and the conclusions that are not geographically restricted but have potential applications, by urban planners, in all developing countries.

Containing a wealth of student-friendly features this text provides an invaluable introduction to the issues and processes of the city in the Third World.