Urban Design Since 1945: A Global Perspective

Abstract

The bookreviews the emergence of urban design as a global phenomenon. The book opens with the urgent need to rebuild cities and re-house the millions of refugees living in camps and shantytowns at the end of the Second World War. Against this background, the book traces the collapse of the modernist, comprehensive state-planning schemes on both sides of the Iron Curtain as global corporations emerged, concentrating on networks and enclaves. It describes how Latin America and then Asia began a rapid urbanisation process, shifting the global urban centre away from Europe and overturning existing urban design models. This resulted in global megacities of an unprecedented scale, often with large associated shantytowns. By outlining the dominant models in urban design over the last sixty years - the metropolis, the megalopolis, the fragmented metropolis and the global megacity - the book provides an essential framework for students of the subject.