Uneven Urban and Regional Growth : Global Urbanization, Regional Economies and Local Dynamics

Uneven Urban and Regional Growth: Global Urbanization, Regional Economies and Local Dynamics examines the links between economic growth, metropolitan development, and environmental sustainability in advanced economies. Focusing on urban areas as hubs of innovation and social change, the book explores how social and environmental factors intersect with economic processes. It advocates for new governance strategies that promote sustainable growth through inclusive policies and integrated urban tools. Drawing on regional economics, it offers a comparative analysis of settlement patterns and spatial planning, emphasizing multilevel governance to address social inequalities and contemporary urban challenges effectively. Structured in three sections, the book begins with a global-to-regional perspective on urbanization and economic dynamics, featuring analyses of uneven economic growth, urban-rural dynamics, and urbanization trends supported by global statistics and case studies from the United States, Iran, and Italy. The second section delves into socio-demographic drivers of urbanization at the regional and district levels, including population dynamics, family patterns, migration, and environmental health indicators in Mediterranean contexts. The final section focuses on local planning and territorial factors influencing urbanization, addressing topics such as landscape quality, labor markets, sustainable regional development, port infrastructure economics, and gendered urban spaces. Richly illustrated with photographs, graphs, maps, and case studies, the book integrates interdisciplinary perspectives from applied economics, geography, sociology, demography, planning, and socio-environmental sciences.