City Futures: Confronting the Crisis of Urban DevelopmentCities are the future. In the past two decades, a global urban revolution has taken place, mainly in the South. The 'mega-cities' of the developing world are home to over 10 million people each and even smaller cities are experiencing unprecedented population surges. The problems surrounding this influx of people - slums, poverty, unemployment and lack of governance - have been well-documented. This book is a powerful indictment of the current consensus on how to deal with these challenges. Pieterse argues that the current 'shelter for all' and 'urban good governance' policies treat only the symptoms, not the causes of the problem. Instead, he claims, there is an urgent need to reinvigorate civil society in these cities, to encourage radical democracy, economic resilience, social resistance and environmental sustainability folded into the everyday concerns of marginalised people. Providing a dynamic picture of a cosmopolitan urban citizenship, this book is an essential guide to one of the new century's greatest challenges. |
Contents
1 | |
2 Urbanization trends and implications | 16 |
shelter for all | 39 |
good governance | 62 |
5 Reconceptualizing the political in cities | 84 |
6 Informal everyday urbanism | 108 |
Other editions - View all
City Futures: Confronting the Crisis of Urban Development Doctor Edgar Pieterse Limited preview - 2013 |
City Futures: Confronting the Crisis of Urban Development Edgar A. Pieterse No preview available - 2008 |
City Futures: Confronting the Crisis of Urban Development Doctor Edgar Pieterse No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
achieve action activities actors agenda alternative approach areas argument associated become building chapter civil society complex conceptual context countries course critical cultural defined democratic direct discourses diverse domains dwellers dynamics economic effective engagement ensure especially example explore expression focus formal forums framework functioning future given global governance groups growth housing human ideas identity important improve inclusive inequality infrastructure institutional interests investment issues land levels lives mainstream movements municipal offer opportunities organizations participation particular perspective planning political poor possible potential poverty practices problems processes production progressive radical reference regard regional relations representative scale sector sense shift slum social space spatial strategies structural sustainable tenure tion transformation UN–Habitat understanding urban development urban poor various