The Urban Caribbean in an Era of Global Change / Edition 1

by Robert B. Potter

Overview

Based on the author’s first hand field research, this book addresses the twin processes of urbanization and globalization as they affect the contemporary Caribbean region. One of the key aims of the book is to focus attention on the fact that contrary to popular perceptions, the Caribbean is highly urbanized. Indeed statistics show that the region is more highly urbanized than the world taken as a whole. In addition, the fact that the Caribbean region has always been affected by processes of globalization, in respect of its economy, polity and society, is central to the text. The chapters cover pressing topics such as urban change and the evolution of mini-metropolitan regions, the importance of the mercantile and plantopolis frameworks, tourism, post modernity and the urban nexus, economic change and the dual processes of global convergence and divergence, and the nature of the relationships existing between the state, the informal sector, housing and environmental conditions. In reality, it is shown that the development of tourism and enclave manufacturing is leading to new forms of urban concentration, and not spatial dispersal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780754611394
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/28/2000
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.62(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Contents: Urbanization and development in the Caribbean: an overview; Towards a framework for the consideration of Caribbean urbanization and urban settlement systems; Global change and Caribbean urbanization: global convergence and global divergence; Tourism, post-modernity and the Caribbean urban imperative; Globalization, environment and urban development in the Caribbean; Housing conditions and the role of the state in the Eastern Caribbean; Environmental impacts of urban development and the urban informal sector in the Caribbean; Caribbean urban futures; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

Eight specialist essays, some written with collaborators, in which Potter (U. of London) considers the role of towns and cities in Caribbean societies, and some of the connections between the processes of globalization and urban development. Some of them address issues of sustainability by focusing on the interface between the environment and development in the urban context, and forecast planning needs of the region over the coming years. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

’This is an accessible text for the non-specialist reader and yet offers unique insight into a particular region’s experience of urban growth and development, and hence is of use to the urban specialist...The text makes a significant intervention in discussions about urban processes and structures existent in the world. It demonstrates continuities and differences within the Caribbean, validating it as a region worthy of study...’ Urban Studies ’This latest Potter book will be on my course reading list, that is for sure.’ Urban Geography

From the Publisher