The complexity of urban systems: contrasts and similarities from different regions

Abstract

"The primary focus of the paper is on trends in population distribution and migration, together with a discussion of the underlying processes and an evaluation of the various models and perspectives which have been advanced in the literature.The paper proceeds through three levels of detail. First, at the international level, it compares changing levels of urbanisation in terms of the traditional measure of the proportion of people living in urban places. Second, it examines trends in the intensity of urbanisation, measured in terms of the degree of concentration in a small number of large urban centres and related to processes of polarisation and counter-urbanisation. Third, it investigates the nature and patterns of urban change at the more localised scale of the individual urban region. At each level, the paper highlights conceptual and methodological issues raised by the developments observed, not least what they mean for the definition of 'urban' and 'rural' places and for the monitoring of trends in urbanisation and urban system change.." - page 1