ABSTRACT
A discussion of the history of urban geography, how it has changed through time, is a standard aspect of all urban geography textbooks. Urban geography has been characterized by a number of radical shifts in its theoretical underpinnings, the aspects of the city that geographers are interested in and the methods they employ to study the city. It is important to be aware of this history and to realize that the ways that you will approach the study of cities are products of this history. These discussions tend to take one of two forms. Either they offer a broad historical review of the subject’s evolution (this was the approach adopted in previous editions of this book) or a focus on current issues or debates with reference to the subject’s evolution (see Robinson 2005a). These accounts all have a strongly chronological flavour. We do not aim to replicate these here. We want to take a more thematic approach. While the approaches that urban geographers have taken have been dynamic and changing, we can recognize a set of fundamental questions that represent enduring concerns of urban geographers.
