Rethinking urbanization and economic development

This issue explores new perspectives on the links between urbanisation and economic development. It brings together papers tackling the measurement of urban growth in Africa; land value capture in South Korea; links between the built form of unplanned settlements and socioeconomic status in Mozambique; the effect of property rights on income generation in Angola; connections between informal settlement dwelling and running informal enterprises in Indonesia; and the linking of existing research on entrepreneurship and business studies with urban geography. 

Together, the papers help to demonstrate the complexity of the relationship between urbanisation and economic development – not one of automatic or inevitable effects or outcomes, but of interdependence, in which the two are closely entwined and shaped by one another.  

The issue also contains six diverse Feedback papers. These include papers on: tactics for thinking globally about development; an exploration of energy injustice and resilience in low-income settlements in Peru; a critical analysis of the participatory processes employed in developing plans for informal settlements in Mukuru; the critical importance of programme learning in upgrading programmes; post-conflict statecraft in Somaliland; and the growing urbanisation of deltas, underscoring how effective, equitable planning is needed to mitigate future climate-related catastrophes.