This groundbreaking book establishes a new framework for thinking about urban development, and crosses the longstanding divide in urban scholarship and urban policy, between Western and other cities (especially those labelled 'Third World'). It considers the two framing axes of urban modernity and urban development which have played an important part in dividing the field between Western and non-Western cities, and argues that if cities are to be imagined in equitable and creative ways, urban theory must overcome these axes with their Western bias, and that the resources for theorizing cities need to become at least as cosmopolitan as cities themselves. Tracking paths across previously separate academic literatures and policy debates, this innovative book traces the outlines of a cosmopolitan approach to cities, drawing on evidence from Rio, Johannesburg, Lusaka and Kuala Lumpur to ground the theoretical arguments and provide examples of policy approaches and urban development interventions.
With the urbanization of the world's population proceeding apace and the equally rapid urbanization of poverty, urban theory has an urgent challenge to meet if it is to remain relevant to the majority of cities and their populations, many of which are outside the West.