In this timely Handbook, seventeen renowned contributors from Asia, the Americas and Europe provide chapters that deal with some of the most intriguing and important aspects of research methodologies on cities and urban economies. The Handbook comprises five parts: methodology, continental distinctions, positioning cities, planning for the future, and urban structures. The 'methodologies' section includes interviews, empirical and theoretical approaches whilst 'continental distinctions' offers contributions on China, North America, Europe, Latin America and South Africa. 'Positioning' treats cities in the international context and relates them to economic and administrative spaces whilst 'planning' includes general strategic economic planning, as well as the experience of individual cities. Finally, the 'structures' section refers to contextual and situational aspects of urban development. Providing a comprehensive study of urban development and competitiveness, this Handbook will strongly appeal to students wishing to gain a deeper understanding of research methods in urban economics, urban studies and planning.
Contents: PART I: BASIC METHODOLOGIES FOR RESEARCHING CITIES 1. City Makers, Federal Interventions and Territorial Organization: The Case of Mexico Vicente Ugalde and Stephanie Ronda 2. Empirical Approaches to Urban Competitiveness Analysis Peter Karl Kresl 3. Comparative Urban Studies in Europe, an Introduction to the Euricur Method Alexander Otgaar and Leo van den Berg PART II: CONTINENTAL DISTINCTIONS 4. Analysis of Urban Well-being and its Influencing Factors in the Spatial Distribution in China Ni Pengfei, Quingbin Li and Chao Li 5. A Comparative Approach to Doing Research on Cities: Comparing North American Cities to Others Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay and Angelo Battaglia 6. Questions and Challenges in Studies on Latin-American Cities Jose Marcos Pinto da Cunha 7. Doing Research in African Cities: The Case Study Method James Duminy, Vanessa Watson and Nancy Odendaal PART III: POSITIONING CITIES 8. Relating Cities to their International Context Earl Fry 9. Defining the Urban Economic and Administrative Spaces Carlo Salone 10. An Insight on the Unit of Analysis in Urban Research Joan Trullen, Raphael Boix and Vittorio Galletto PART IV: PLANNING FOR THE FUTURES 11. Evaluation of Strategic Planning Exercises Peter Karl Kresl 12. Imagining the Future of an Individual City John F. McDonald 13. The Limits of Environmental Management in the Mexico Megacity: The Air Pollution Case Jose Luis Lezama PART V: URBAN STRUCTURES 14. Urban Demographic Growth: The Case of Megacities Jaime Sobrino 15. Evaluating the Urban Milieu of an Individual City William Lever 16. Analyzing Internal Migration Pathways in Mexico Jaime Sobrino 17. Model Building for Infrastructure Initiatives Bert van Wee, Jan Anne Annema and Hugo Priemus 18. Local Public - Private Relationships for Economic Development in Mexico: A Qualitative Analysis Isella Orihuela 19. The Creative Urban Diaspora Economy: A Disparity Analysis Among Migrant Entrepreneurs Karima Kourtit, Peter Nijkamp and Daniel Arribas-Bel Index
