ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book comprises a meeting of the IGU Working Group on Urbanization in Developing Countries which was held in Madrid in August 1986, the theme of which was 'economic development and urbanization in the periphery and semi-periphery'. It addresses the conceptual issues involved in this discussion and it would be inappropriate to anticipate this debate. The book explains the emergence of the country from semi-peripheral towards core status and details the impact of such economic change upon the development of Barcelona. It comprises the household remains the unit of analysis for Jennifer Bryant's study of the impact of economic pressures on the composition of urban squatter settlements in Fiji. The book explains the built environment and its relationship with social, economic, and political events.
