The urban imperative

Urbanization has not been central to the agenda of scholars of international politics, who have largely viewed their object of analysis as the system of states and tended to dismiss cities as they are subnational entities. However, so profound has been the urban growth of the last four decades that this situation is beginning to change. Global urbanization is arguably the key trend of the early twenty-first century, and this is a critical moment: the forms that it takes now will lay down patterns that will shape international affairs for decades to come. By the first decade of the twenty-first century, we have become a predominantly urban species—a profound change from the rural world of just 100 years ago. Over 3 billion more people are expected to move to cities by 2030 and urban space is expected to triple over the next 30 years. Much of this will take place in the developing world—and it is here that massive growth often coincides with weak governance capacity. But, more than this, urbanization is on a vast scale, and the urban forms that are emerging—megacities, transcontinental urban corridors—are often transnational in reach. Whether it be their centrality to the global economy, their global environmental impact or their increasing influence on global governance structures, cities are becoming impossible to ignore in discussions about the shape and governance of the international system

Centrality · Corporate governance · Development economics · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Economy · Geography · Global city · Global governance · Megacity · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Sociology · Urban hierarchy · Urbanization · Cross-Border Cooperation and Integration · Economic Zones and Regional Development · Local Government Finance and Decentralization · Urban Studies