ABSTRACT
Urbanization is a process where more people live in cities and towns compared to rural areas. This chapter introduces the general concepts of urbanization and globalization as well as the idea of a global urban hierarchy of world and/or global cities. It discusses the cities across the Pacific as somehow forming a distinct, coherent network. The chapter shows that while North American and Latin American cities have several clearly identifiable and common characteristics, fewer commonalities exist across cities in Asia or Oceania. It also then introduces two analytical approaches that are meaningful for comparing and relating cities across the globe: Marcuse and van Kempen's discussion about "globalizing cities" and Jenny Robinson's more recent concept of "ordinary cities". The chapter concludes with some implications for the future of urbanization across the Pacific Basin. Oceania, made up of thousands of islands in the South Pacific, is the only settled region in the world without any megacities.
