ABSTRACT
Cities have always acted as focal points in the development of nation-states, and as symbols of opportunity in the popular imagination. They remain symbolically powerful, but the reality of urbanization is rapidly changing. Some cities remain small in scale and functionally intact. But as other cities-the ‘hotspots’ on this map, as well as others unnamed-grow into vast conglomerations, they are both uncontrollable and unsustainable. Governments cannot afford to provide the vast infrastructure that is needed to accommodate adequately the huge numbers of people drawn to city life.
