Vocabularies for an Urbanising Planet: Theory Building through Comparison

The speed, sca­le and scope of urba­ni­sa­ti­on have increased dra­ma­ti­cal­ly in recent deca­des. To deci­pher the rapidly chan­ging urban ter­ri­to­ries across the pla­net, we need a radi­cal shift in the ana­ly­ti­cal per­spec­ti­ve on urbanisation.

In this book, a trans­di­sci­pli­na­ry inter­na­tio­nal rese­arch team pres­ents an expan­ded voca­bu­la­ry of urba­ni­sa­ti­on pro­ces­ses through a com­pa­ri­son of Tokyo, Hong Kong – Shen­zhen – Donggu­an, Kolk­a­ta, Istan­bul, Lagos, Paris, Mexi­co City and Los Angeles.

Based on a novel car­to­gra­phy and on detail­ed eth­no­gra­phic and his­to­ri­cal explo­ra­ti­ons, this book sys­te­ma­ti­cal­ly ana­ly­ses the diver­si­ty of respon­ses to urgent con­tem­po­ra­ry urban chal­lenges. It pro­po­ses a series of new con­cepts that allow us to assess the prac­ti­cal con­se­quen­ces of dif­fe­rent urban stra­te­gies in ever­y­day life.

Edi­ted by Chris­ti­an Schmid and Mon­ka Streule

Basel: Birkhäuser, 2023
Softcover
English
21 × 28.5 cm
396 Pages
150 col. ill.
ISBN 978–3‑0356–2298‑0
e‑ISBN 978–3‑0356–2301‑7

Open Access