ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book. The book discusses the complexities of the right to the city movement expressed variously as competition for space, political power, influence in decision-making, and basic justice. It argues that the right to the city movement has become embedded in the broader and fundamental discussion of how cities and regions should be planned in terms of both theory and process. The book examines how the right to the city implies more than just the competition for control of center city areas but how development in urban peripheries, especially over access to land and housing, is also central to the struggle. The right to the city is ultimately about a just city experienced in a just and equitable manner by all those who reside there. The book also discusses the challenges facing an enlightened planning in seeking to achieve it.
