ABSTRACT
Post-colonial perspectives on cities begin from the perspective that there are diverse histories and geographies of globalization, and that the West cannot be taken to be the only point of reference in urban studies. This chapter briefly considers the key concepts and ideas informing urban studies. It considers the specific roles that 'imperial' cities played in colonial processes. It also explores how those processes shaped cities in their overseas territories, including those new, planned cities designed to secure forms of political and economic control. The chapter examines how the legacies of global connection have created a superdiverse city whose geographies are transnational, complex and contested. It connects these different cities together and show how shared histories of connection and flow have created forms of 'globalization from below' that demand close scrutiny. The connections between ethnicity and space are significant, and confirm the importance of the city as a site whose segregation reifies certain forms of racial and ethnic difference.
