This important book, put together by a team of editors and contributing authors who are specialists in different regions of the world, explores major cities of the globe. The introductory chapter examines the patterns of world urban development, urban economy, theoretical aspects of cities, urban services, problems, and challenges. The 11 chapters that follow provide key urban facts, historical perspectives, profiles of distinctive cities, spatial models, urban problems, and prospects for each subregion of the world. The concluding chapter then presents five scenarios of future cities. This updated edition explains and interprets major cities of the world by using the perspectives of space and human-environment relationships, emphasizes issues such as climate change and international migration, and contains color photographs of over 100 cities around the world. This well-organized, one-volume study of major and distinctive cities from around the world should be a must read for both instructors and students. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

Choice Reviews

Efficiently organized by world subregions, this excellent collection deserves praise for its global coverage of the urban question, systematically profiling the major city-regions across the planet. The writing style is fluid and readable, and the content is full of contemporary, up-to-date material that makes the book very relevant. I highly recommend this as an undergraduate text in urban studies, geography, urban-regional planning, architecture, and related fields.

Lawrence A. Herzog, University of California, San Diego

Cities of the World is one of the most valuable introductory texts in geography. It pushes students to think critically about the complexity of our urban world by seriously engaging a world regional perspective. The new edition, like those before, continues to showcase how cities, past and present, are best understood when refracted through a critical area-studies lens and a focus on power and urban politics. Its clear, jargon-free writing, vivid illustrations, and distinctive city profiles make it eminently accessible for students of all backgrounds.

Natalie Koch, Syracuse University

The seventh edition of Cities of the World has much that is new and is completely current. Very teachable, very readable, it will continue to serve as a solid foundation for students’ initial exposure to the ways of approaching urban and regional geography.

Rickie Sanders, Temple University