Online Urbanization

This book highlights the new urban–rural relationship that has emerged under the influence of e-commerce in China. In this regard, it presents case studies on the Suichang rural e-commerce model and Alibaba’s rural strategy, together with analyses of online service in China. Furthermore, by means of a brief review of the urban–rural relationship throughout China’s history, and of academic literature on the study of space, it explains the special logic of urbanization in China. As such, the book makes a valuable contribution to the body of literature on the space of flows and grassrooting, aspects that are essential to appreciating the complexity of the new urban–rural relationship in underdeveloped areas (including developing countries and underdeveloped areas in developed countries) in the ongoing information era.

Featuring a collection of original chapters by leading and emerging scholars, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Sociology presents a comprehensive and balanced overview of the major topics and emerging trends in the discipline of sociology today. Features original chapters contributed by an international cast of leading and emerging sociology scholars Represents the most innovative and 'state-of-the-art' thinking about the discipline Includes a general introduction and section introductions with chapters summaries by the editor

Amid a vast influx of rural migrants into urban areas, China has allowed cities wide latitude in providing education and other social services. While millions of people have been welcomed into the megacities as a source of cheap labor, local governments have used various tools to limit their access to full citizenship. The Urbanization of People reveals how cities in China have granted public goods to the privileged while condemning poor and working-class migrants to insecurity, constant mobility, and degraded educational opportunities. Using the school as a lens on urban life, Eli Friedman investigates how the state manages flows of people into the city. He demonstrates that urban governments are providing quality public education to those who need it least: school admissions for nonlocals heavily favor families with high levels of economic and cultural capital. Those deemed not useful are left to enroll their children in precarious resource-starved private schools that sometimes are subjected to forced demolition. Over time, these populations are shunted away to smaller locales with inferior public services. Based on extensive ethnographic research and hundreds of in-depth interviews, this interdisciplinary book details the policy framework that produces unequal outcomes as well as providing a fine-grained account of the life experiences of people drawn into the cities as workers but excluded as full citizens.

In response to the increasing urbanization, advances in the science of urban hydrology have improved urban water system management, creating more livable cities in which public safety and health, as well as the environment, are protected. The ultimate goal of urban water management is to mimic the hydrological cycle prior to urbanization. On top of urbanization, climate change, which has been demonstrated to alter the hydrological cycle in all respects, has introduced additional challenges to managing urban water systems. To mitigate and adapt to urbanization under a changing climate, understanding key hydrologic components should expand to include complex issues brought forth by climate change. Thus, effective and efficient measures can be formulated. This Special Issue of Water presents a variety of research papers that span a range of spatial and temporal scales of relevance in different societies’ efforts in adapting to the eminent changes in climate and the continuous changes in the landscape. From mitigating water quality in permeable pavements and bioretention swales to understanding changes in groundwater recharge in large regions, this Special Issue examines the state-of-the-art in sustainable urban design for adaptation and resiliency.

The Routledge Handbook on Informal Urbanization investigates the mutual relationship between the struggle for political inclusion and processes of informal urbanization in different socio-political and cultural settings. It seeks a middle ground between two opposing perspectives on the political meaning of urban informality. The first, the ‘emancipatory perspective’, frames urban informality as a practice that fosters autonomy, entrepreneurship and social mobility. The other perspective, more critical, sees informality predominantly as a result of political exclusion, inequality, and poverty. Do we see urban informality as a fertile breeding ground for bottom-up democracy and more political participation? Or is urban informality indeed merely the result of a democratic deficit caused by governing autocratic elites and ineffective bureaucracies? This book displays a wide variety of political practices and narratives around these positions based on narratives conceived upon specific case cities. It investigates how processes of urbanization are politicized in countries in the Global South and in transition economies. The handbook explores 24 cities in the Global South, as well as examples from Eastern Europe and East Asia, with contributions written by a global group of scholars familiar with the cases (often local scholars working in the cities analyzed) who offer unique insight on how informal urbanization can be interpreted in different contexts. These contributions engage the extreme urban environments under scrutiny which are likely to be the new laboratories of 21st-century democracy. It is vital reading for scholars, practitioners, and activists engaged in informal urbanization.

This second edition of Understanding Chinese Society provides a comprehensive, readable, and well-grounded introduction to the key issues affecting contemporary China. A thorough analysis is undertaken not only of China’s family patterns, education system, status, hierarchy, and ethnic diversity, but also of China’s mass media, legal system and social control, work, and cultural expression. As well as being thoroughly updated and revised throughout, this edition offers new chapters on urbanization, the environment, and civil society in China. A team of international experts guide students though social issues including: What are the key features of the family and marriage institutions in China? How are women and men faring differently in Chinese society today? How are minorities faring in China? How does the education system differentiate Chinese society? How are religion and cultural traditions expressed? Including handy pedagogical features such as a chronology of the People's Republic of China, further reading suggestions, and related novels and films, Understanding Chinese Society is suitable for anyone studying Chinese Culture and Society, Chinese Studies and Asian sociology.

First translation into English on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the publication of the General Theory of Urbanization 1867 by Ildefons Cerdà, an essential work on urban development. In 1867 Ildefons Cerdà published his “Teoria general de la urbanitzación”. In this text, the “science of building cities”, understood as a phenomenon, became a new discipline with a broad economic, social and cultural impact on the life of the people of the city. Coinciding with 150 years since its publication, its first translation into English is being presented along with the publishing online at urbanization.org with the statistics transformed into interactive graphics and open data, with the aim of expanding the knowledge of Cerdà’s work and encouraging debate on the process of “urbanization” in the future. Co-published with the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia in collaboration with the Diputació de Barcelona, the Generalitat de Catalunya through Incasòl. Bloomberg Philanthropies contributed as a collaborator for the international di usion of the project.

This book offers a systematic historical analysis of the relationships between migration and the development of cities, including their physical, economic, and cultural evolution. The volume results from a comparative project that examines the interface between migration and the development of cities throughout different periods including current conditions. Nine strategic sites are examined: Three cities in Europe, three in Latin America and three in North America. The editors contribute to the analysis by summarizing lessons from the cases discussed and by providing a glimpse at the relevance of the study of migration and cities historically. Urbanization and Migration in Three Continents will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and students of sociology, migration studies, race and ethnic studies, history, anthropology, urban studies, and economics. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.