To date, most interpretations of urbanization have focused on the internal dynamics of regions or nations, or at best on narrow relations of international dependency. This text recognizes a complementary world-system process theory. The intent is not to argue that world-system processes totally determine urban change, but rather that patterns of urbanization within regions cannot be adequately understood without at least taking global political economic processes into account. The book begins with a discussion of how a world-system theory of urbanization differs from other approaches. This is...