Megacity

In this book, the first on the planning history of Jarkarta, able expert Christopher Silver describes how planning has shaped urban development in Southeast Asia, and in particular how its largest city, Jakarta, Indonesia, was transformed from a colonial capital of approximately 150,000 in 1900 to a megacity of 12–13 million inhabitants in 2000. Placing the city's planning history within local, national and international contexts, exploring not only the formal planning actions, but how planning was shaped by broader political, economic, social and cultural factors in Indonesia’s development, this book is an excellent resource for academics, students and professionals involved in urban planning, history and geography as well as other interested parties.

Poetry. Alyse Knorr's MEGA-CITY REDUX is a marvel. In 1405, Christine de Pizan, the world's first female professional writer, published an allegorical work called The Book of the City of Ladies, in which she imagined constructing (with the help of her fairy godmothers Reason, Rectitude, and Justice) a walled city where women could live safe from sexism, misogyny, and gendered violence. Six hundred years later, women across the world still find themselves in need of such a city. MEGA-CITY REDUX, a novel in verse remix of Pizan's allegory, charts a modern-day road-trip search for the mythical city, with the help of 21st- century feminist heroes Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena Warrior Princess, and Dana Scully from The X-Files.

Exploring the importance of megacities and megacity-regions as one of the defining features of the 21st century, this Handbook provides a clear and comprehensive overview of current thinking and debates from leading scholars in the field. Highlighting major current challenges and dimensions of megaurbanization, chapters form a thematic focus on governance, planning, history, and environmental and social issues, supported by case studies from every continent.

For the first time in human history, more than half the world’s population is urban. A fundamental aspect of this transformation has been the emergence of giant cities, or megacities, that present major new challenges. This book examines how issues of megacity development, urban form, sustainability, and unsustainability are conceived, how governance processes are influenced by these ideas, and how these processes have in turn influenced outcomes on the ground, in some cases in transformative ways. Through 15 in-depth case studies by prominent researchers from around the world, this book examines the major challenges facing megacities today. The studies are organized around a shared set of concerns and questions about issues of sustainability, land development, urban governance, and urban form. Some of the main questions addressed are: What are the most pressing issues of sustainability and urban form in each megacity? How are major issues of sustainability understood and framed by policymakers? Is urban form considered a significant component of sustainability issues in public debates and public policy? Who are the key actors framing urban sustainability challenges and shaping urban change? How is unsustainability, risk, or disaster imagined, and how are those concerns reflected in policy approaches? What has been achieved so far, and what challenges remain? The publication of this book is a step toward answering these and other crucial questions.

This photographic Tokyo travel guide explores the dynamic Japanese culture, art and architecture that make Tokyo a world-class city. It has been said that "every city has its high points, but Tokyo is all exclamation points!" The largest and most populous city in the world, Tokyo must be experienced in person to be understood truly. The next best thing? Tokyo Megacity--a visual and descriptive exploration of a city that combines old with new and traditional with trendy, like no other city in the world. This extraordinary book explores Tokyo through 250 revealing photographs by well-known photographer Ben Simmons and over 30 essays by famed author Donald Richie. Their love of the city, their sense of its history, and the deep respect and pure joy felt in being here, shine through on every page. Simmons and Richie show us how modern Tokyo evolved from a patchwork of villages that still exist today as distinct neighborhoods and districts to the modern, trendsetting metropolis renowned the world over--that combine to make Tokyo a unique and special place. Tokyo Megacity presents the districts of the city in the order that they originally developed, starting with the Imperial Palace, sliding down to the "Low City" along the Sumida River, soaring back up to the "Mid-City," and finally, climbing the hills to the newer districts of the "High City." The combination of Ben Simmons' photographs and Donald Richie's text capture, as never before, the tremendous diversity, vitality and sheer livability of the megacity that is Tokyo.

The book Dhaka Megacity: Geospatial Perspectives on Urbanisation, Environment and Health presents the use of geospatial techniques to address a number of environmental issues, including land use change, climatic variability, urban sprawl, population density modelling, flooding, environmental health, water quality, energy resources, urban growth modelling, infectious diseases and the quality of life. Although the work is focused on the Megacity of Dhaka in Bangladesh, the techniques and methods that are used to research these issues can be utilized in any other areas where rapid population growth coupled with unplanned urbanization is leading to environmental degradation. The book is useful for people working in the area of Geospatial Science, Urban Geography, Environmental Management and International Development. Since the chapters in the book cover a range of environmental issues, this book describes useful tools for assisting informed decision making, particularly in developing countries.

This book describes and analyzes a wealth of data about Mexico Citys growth, change, and spatial patterns. Applying modern techniques of geographic information systems and cluster analysis, the authors reveal many previously unknown or unrecognized trends and patterns. The authors provide historical background, analyze key findings and relationships, and tie their results to the literature on Mexico City and other giant cities. The United Nations predicts the emergence of many more giant cities worldwide over the next quarter century, most of which will appear in the developing world. Mexico Megacity may be a milestone from a comparative perspective in increasing knowledge about one developing world megacity and offering analytical tools to study others. With a population of 15 million persons in 1990, Mexico City is one of the worlds largest cities. It is a famous center of civilizations and culture and one of the economic capitals of the Americas, but it also has serious social and economic problems, including large impoverished zones, severe environmental degradation, crime, and overpopulation. This book describes and analyzes growth, change, and spatial patterns in Mexico City, looking at urbanization, population, marriage and fertility, health and mortality, migration, environment and housing, social characteristics, the economy, labor force, and corporate structure. Applying modern techniques of geographic information systems and spatial analysis, the authors reveal many previously unknown or unrecognized trends and patterns. In a capstone chapter, they summarize the spatial patterns in a series of cluster analyses that identify distinctive zones within the metropolisa prosperous core, surrounding complex ring patterns, an impoverished zone, and semi-rural arms. They also compare the pattern of Mexico Citys cluster zones to the classical and developmental literature on cities. In closing, the authors suggest government policies that would foster optimal future development of an even larger metropolis. This book addresses a topic of growing importance. The United Nations predicts the emergence of many more giant cities worldwide over the next quarter century, most of which will appear in the developing world. Mexico Megacity is a milestone work that increases our knowledge about one developing world megacity while offering analytical tools for studying others.

Flooding is one of the most devastating natural hazards in the world. Available records suggest that both flood frequency and severity are on the rise and this is likely to worsen in the context of climate change. As population, infrastructure and poverty grow rapidly in developing countries, particularly in urban agglomerations of 10 million people or more, floods could cause widespread devastation, economic damage and loss of life. Assessment of vulnerability and risk from naturally occurring phenomena is therefore imperative in order to achieve urban sustainability. This book uses geospatial techniques to evaluate hazards, risk and vulnerability at a metropolitan scale in a data-scarce country. An empirical study was performed using remote sensing, GIS and census data. This research offers a new approach to mapping population, infrastructures and communities at risk which can greatly contribute to the deeper understanding of flood disasters in a rapidly expanding megacity. Examples shown in this book are from Dhaka Megacity, however, the techniques and methods can easily be implemented in medium to large cities of similar characteristics. The book is essential reading for hazard researchers, geospatial scientists, disaster management professionals, geographers, urban planners, and social scientists. Ashraf M. Dewan is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Spatial Sciences at Curtin University, Western Australia (on leave from his substantive position as Associate Professor in the Geography & Environment Department at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh).