Metropolis 2000

The problems created by metropolitanization have become increasingly apparent. Attempts to limit growth, disperse populations and plan neighbourhoods have been largely unsuccessful. Strategies are needed to improve the world's major cities for the next century. "Metropolis 2000" offers an analysis of metropolitan development and planning under the different economic and environmental conditions of the world's regions. Attempts to achieve the physical integration of the city without economic equality have failed; the author proposes the principle of "integrated diversity" with its emphasis on the neighbourhood base and a broader vision of an integrated metropolis. Applying a political economy approach, the author argues for pro-urban thinking. Individual chapters focus on the dominant regimes of urbanization and models of planning in North America, Europe, the former Soviet Union and the developing nations of the South. The author states that only when the metropolis is understood as a necessary and beneficial acccompaniment to social progress can a progressive, humane approach to city planning be developed.