Winner of the Regional Studies Association's Best Book Award 2018.

In the last few decades, many global cities and towns have experienced unprecedented economic, social, and spatial structural change. Today, we find ourselves at the juncture between entering a post-urban and a post-political world, both presenting new challenges to our metropolitan regions, municipalities, and cities. Many megacities, declining regions and towns are experiencing an increase in the number of complex problems regarding internal relationships, governance, and external connections. In particular, a growing disparity exists between citizens that are socially excluded within declining physical and economic realms and those situated in thriving geographic areas. This book conveys how forces of structural change shape the urban landscape.

In The Post-Urban World is divided into three main sections: Spatial Transformations and the New Geography of Cities and Regions; Urbanization, Knowledge Economies, and Social Structuration; and New Cultures in a Post-Political and Post-Resilient World. One important subject covered in this book, in addition to the spatial and economic forces that shape our regions, cities, and neighbourhoods, is the social, cultural, ecological, and psychological aspects which are also critically involved. Additionally, the urban transformation occurring throughout cities is thoroughly discussed. Written by today's leading experts in urban studies, this book discusses subjects from different theoretical standpoints, as well as various methodological approaches and perspectives; this is alongside the challenges and new solutions for cities and regions in an interconnected world of global economies.

This book is aimed at both academic researchers interested in regional development, economic geography and urban studies, as well as practitioners and policy makers in urban development.

Winner of the Regional Studies Association's Best Book Award 2018. "The editors claim that the difference between the 'urban' and 'non-urban' is increasingly blurred and new conceptions of poly-centric city regions are emerging, which are the themes of this important book. It offers innovative suggestions on how to enhance local resilience as well as examples of successful adaptation strategies. Internationally renowned authors have contributed essays on urban solutions and how to make cities more sustainable, resilient and socially inclusive. This book is an informative, comprehensive and up-to-date account which will be of considerable use to its readership. An important resource and I recommend it highly." -- Professor Steffen Lehmann, Director of the Cluster for Sustainable Cities and Professor of Sustainable Architecture, University of Portsmouth, UK "By providing an insight into the complexities of changes of cities' internal spatial transformations and extensions to new types of city regions, on the one hand, and the global networks of these 'post-metropolitan' regions, on the other, this book offers an elegant and stimulating analysis of a new urban paradigm." -- Roberta Capello, Professor of Regional Economics at Politecnico of Milan, Italy "This book represents not only an impressive collection of long-awaited statements on post-urban cities by world leading thinkers in the most vibrant field of regional studies, but also a major contribution to post urban policy discourses for policy makers in global knowledge society. The post-urban dynamisms, most typically characterized by re-urbanization, densification of city regions, region enlargement, downgrading of intracity relations and upgrading intercity communications, are expressions of the dissolution of conventional frames of references on urban development: the urban-rural dichotomy and the urban-suburban dichotomy. The message is really striking and innovative. Focusing on the transformation of cities, each chapter addresses the basic features of the emerging post-urban world and policy implications for future. This book will appeal to academics in the fields of regional studies, economics, geography, sociology and engineering. It will also be of interest to policymakers and professionals in the fields of urban development and regional policies on different spatial scales." Professor Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University, Japan