This chapter explores the cities of Northern Europe as a plethora of difference and similarity, first by considering the possibility of a Northern European region as it might emerge from climate, politics or urbanisation. It traces, a double process of urban material planning, growth and building and, on the other hand, an overall notion of a (Northern) European urban and regional identity. This plays out over a broad process from the liberal cities of the later 1800s, through the inter-war crisis and post-war changes (very distinct between Nordic and Baltic cities), to the post-Cold War period (where some similarities reappear).The chapter also focuses on the welfare period, where state and municipality enter into new negotiations. The social programmes of Nordic statecraft mean large-scale public housing, regulation and institutions, causing new cleavages between city and country. The new role of the market in urbanisation from the 1970s onwards is also considered, intersecting from 1989 with the end of the Cold War, and a reconnection between Baltic and Nordic cities. The chapter evaluates the influence of globalisation and the role of modernised cities both economically and culturally, and thus the notion and identity of Nordic and Northern European cities are connected with regional urban development.

The urban development of Britain and Ireland is not usually considered within a single frame of reference, a fact that reflects their conflicted histories. This chapter attempts to provide a comparative account to differences not only between Britain and what became the independent Republic of Ireland in 1921 but also between the ‘four nations’ of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The historical narrative is organised around four phases: 1850–1910, seen as witnessing the consolidation of the modern city in terms of demography and urban form; 1910–70 marked by the emergence of the twin forces of town planning and urban modernism; the 1970s and 1980s viewed as a period of urban crisis; and urban renaissance since 1990 in national and regional capitals, though not in other urban places such as seaside towns and de-industrialising urban regions. This chronological narrative is crosscut by the experience of race, colonialism and violence, which marked British urbanism not only overseas but also at home and on the island of Ireland. The result is an urban history that views urbanism in Britain and Ireland relationally: in connection to the simultaneous urbanisation of continental Europe and North America and to the matrix of colonial and post-colonial relations.

Infrastructure planning and engineering more specifically are often considered as external influences that either independently or unintentionally influence the process of urbanisation. This chapter advances an alternative perspective on relations between infrastructure planning and urbanisation. Instead of interpreting technological systems as objective, monolithic, standardised engineered structures hovering above the urban landscape, it follows the interdependencies between infrastructure planning and urbanisation. Infrastructure is approached as a spatial planning instrument intentionally steering spatial development to accommodate socio-economic and political agendas. In doing so, infrastructure is considered as a driving force of urbanisation and it is posited that a history of infrastructure planning sheds light on fundamental socio-spatial developments in urban history.

First, the turn to infrastructure in Urban History and Urban Studies is discussed, proposing infrastructure planning as a key entry into understanding nineteenth- and twentieth-century urbanisation processes. In the second part, the history of urbanisation in Europe is portrayed through an infrastructural lens and there is a discussion of urban development in relation to network planning, its expansions and implosions. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the promise of infrastructure networks for research and how the liaison of Urban History with other fields, and Urban Studies more specifically, could open up novel research paths.

Death, home, housing, and changes in Iranian identity through the materiality of space and the geography of social relations. Generational change is reflected in architecture, household organization, property values, and historical memory. The modern city and recent speculative residential building developments offer opportunities for more privacy, shiny surfaces, and dedicated space for nuclear families. But the loss of more integrated mixed-class neighborhoods and extended family residential spaces puts different pressures on individuals and the shared urban fabric. One family’s generational and spatial transitions symbolize the changes in Tehran’s social and architectural possibilities.

This chapter focuses on how urban development relates to riverine flood risk. It begins with an overview of flooding and related riverine processes (e.g., sediment transport, floodplain formation, channel migration). It then presents the urban development and flood histories of Vienna (Austria) on the Danube and Calgary (Canada) on the Bow River, including the latter’s 2013 flood disaster. The cases are assessed and compared using the Urban Risk Dynamics framework. Vienna and Calgary demonstrate several key themes, including the “levee effect.” Each city’s relationship with the river has been one of technological control, intensifying over time. During periods of major population growth, flood protection investments are made that allow the city to expand into hazard lands. Once set in motion, the reliance on technology for flood protection becomes self-reinforcing, difficult to reverse as more of the city comes to depend on it. Over time, there is a loss of collective memory about flood risk. The role of government becomes increasingly important. Disaster events lead to learning and adaptation but do not fundamentally alter processes of urban development that give rise to risk.

This chapter focuses on how urban development relates to earthquake risk. It draws connections between earthquakes and floods, then introduces key technical concepts (e.g., magnitude v. intensity, liquefaction, structural response to shaking). It presents the urban development and disaster histories of Kobe (Japan; including the 1995 earthquake) and Christchurch (New Zealand; including the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence), assessing and comparing them using the Urban Risk Dynamics framework. Findings resonate with themes from the flood chapters. Urbanization often involves modifying lands (e.g., draining wetlands, expanding waterfronts, constructing islands), which are susceptible to ground failure in earthquakes. While newer structures are less prone to damage because of technological and building code advances, many older buildings are concentrated in neighborhoods that are hotspots of physical and social vulnerability. Postdisaster reconstruction and recovery accelerate prior trends. Catastrophic events trigger learning and instigate diversification in risk reduction strategies. Retreat from hazard lands is possible, as exemplified in Christchurch’s residential red zone.

While most scholars of criminalized governance in Rio de Janeiro attribute its origins to the prison-based factions which formed during the military dictatorship (1964–85), this chapter argues that these arrangements emerged before, in the homes and on the streets and alleyways of the city’s favelas and housing projects. This chapter investigates these origins by focusing on the first embryonic gangs in Complexo da Maré in the 1970s. Combining archival research with oral histories of longtime residents, the chapter documents the emergence of Maré’s gangs after a variety of other non-state actors that had previously provided governance were increasingly marginalized during Brazil’s military dictatorship and as the abusive practices of police became more widespread. Maré’s incipient gang networks quickly began to compete over valuable drug-selling turf and, as the more successful ones consolidated territorial control, they expanded their organizations and governance activities. The chapter concludes with a description of the history of Rio’s prison-based factions and the marriage between these two organizational forms as the favela-based gangs integrated into these citywide networks.

Public spaces, as places of consumption, are windows onto unequal economic structures. In this chapter, I discuss different aspects of real and perceived inequalities in Tehran. I demonstrate that massive structural changes, such as the expansion of infrastructure and public transportation, have facilitated access to different parts of Tehran and a more equal experience of the city, yet different forms of inequality persist and are reproduced. Many public spaces offer a variety of opportunities for using space, ranging from walking in a public park to eating in high-end restaurants, all in very close proximity. Depending on what can be consumed and where it happens, public spaces bring inequalities to the fore as different groups often segregate within the same public space, following patterns that usually correlate with their ability to pay for products and services. Thus, in Tehran, as much as urban development may appear to work as an equalizer – bringing different socioeconomic groups together in newly shared public spaces – it highlights economic and social inequalities and makes disparities even more visible.

The Introduction situates the book within the context of urban sociology, highlights the importance of the study, and outlines the arguments and contributions. I discuss my approach to the study of public spaces as multilayered sociological entities, rather than mere physical containers of events, people, and the built environment of cities. Studying how public spaces function at the city level, I argue that the meanings and values assigned to places are closely tied to where they are located and how they are used. Approaching public spaces as places where economic, political, gender, and social hierarchies are both reinforced and undermined, I show the complexity of social relations and coexistence in a rapidly changing urban environment. Key themes from urban sociology, sociology of culture, and inequality will be used to lay out the book’s arguments and contributions. I will also discuss my methods and provide an overview of the rest of the chapters.

In the conclusion, I bring the components of the book together, arguing that the findings in each chapter relate to a broad framework that explains the social functions and meanings of public spaces. I discuss how perceptions of self and others, in both the economic and cultural senses, act as essential components of urban experience. Through these discussions, this concluding chapter lays out the opportunities and limits of studying public spaces as a means of understanding social relations in changing urban contexts, and it suggests potential paths for future research.

This chapter provides an overview of Tehran’s urban development and shows how the city’s growth has been influenced by natural settings, cultural ideals, and economic and political processes. I explain the class structure of the city (moving from the north to the south, one perceives a gradual shift from wealthier neighborhoods to poorer ones) and its historical and geographical evolution. With an emphasis on grand urban visions, I discuss how natural, historical, and political forces have contributed to the unequal structure of the city.

Land value and commercial value capture can be implemented through programs. This chapter uses the example of transit oriented development, provides lessons learned and identifies how land value capture and commercial value capture fit into transit oriented development programs.

The rapid rate of urbanisation in Africa accompanied by a myriad of socio-economic, physical and environmental challenges and the persistence of these challenges have called into question the effectiveness of urban planning in managing this phenomenon to achieve an improved quality of life. This chapter, through an extensive review of the literature, examines the magnitude of Africa’s urbanisation challenges, the planning response to those challenges and the effects of planning on the quality of life. The chapter notes a peculiar urbanisation with rapid human agglomeration but without commensurate urban facilities and services. Urban planning is characterised by heavy reliance on western planning models that has made it less responsive to the socio-economic, cultural and spatial requirements of the people, thus making cities less liveable. The chapter calls for a re-examination of urban planning practice and suggests measures that could be explored to reposition urban planning for effective urban management in Africa.

A problem in the African urban development system is that the authorities have not always listened to the people. This chapter shows that dialogues between urban-dwelling people can serve as sources of ideas for city authorities and policymakers towards solving land and planning problems. It uses dialectics and dialogic enquiries to evoke the voices of people in African cities through short dialogues that reflect critical questions concerning urban planning and sustainable land governance. These brief dialogues constitute a walk-through of the texts that laid out a diverse set of statements probing the urban prognosis of five cities – Addis Ababa, Cairo, Kinshasa, Lagos and Windhoek – from five regions of Africa. Explicit and implicit scenarios within the dialogues present the inherent challenges in Africa’s urban land situation. The chapter concludes that the reimaging of African cities should be part of a reimagining process in urban planning.