This book has as its central thesis that urban growth in all parts of the world is inevitable and is welcome. Despite some concerns that the local governments will not be able to address the problems associated with increasing urban population, the number of people living in urban centers will exceed the rural population around the year 2030. Given that productivity levels are consistently higher in urban areas compared with that of rural settlements, this should in principle be a positive because there would be more people with higher salaries, improved living standards and less poverty. But