Have you ever looked at a picture of Dubai and asked yourself, "How did that come to be?" There are definite factors that facilitate or impede a city's rise to prominence. Among them are economics, geography, politics and luck. Many cities aspire to regional or global dominance, but only a few arrive. This book examines the hows and whys. Post Industrial economies need concentrations of financial and commercial logistics. This brings a hollowing out of the middle class and greater disparity between the classes. Dubai, Miami and Singapore have different stories, but common threads within them. Other cities examined don't quite make it to the top tier because they can't offer the stability and regard for law or some other necessary factor. But the world is a dynamic place and rising sea level is going to cause great disruption. (When I ticked off the list including Lagos, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo my husband quipped that its actually Submerging Global Cities.) Or maybe something else. History is full of surprises. Maybe Dubai isn't the only thing built on sand.

The writing felt very impersonal and I found myself skimming alot. This droned on worse than a college textbook and had no pictures, graphs or anything engaging other than words. I do not feel this text is accessible in understanding, for those seeking casual reading. I appreciated how it was divided, but also found that the case studies chosen (LA, Detroit...) were stereotypical and offered nothing new. Detroit especially, used as an example, though it may fit well, is SO overly examined in the field that it felt like a cop-out by the writer. There was also alot of focus on politics, instead of city planning, which I would have preferred. Can I recommend this? Maybe as a textbook for an entry level college student in urban studies, but for a casual reader, no.

I would like to thank everyone that allowed me to read this book in exchange for a review.
It is very and I mean very well organized and it makes it easy to understand what is being discussed in the book. I had no prior knowledge and noticed that it was detailed. Many will be able to comprehend Emerging Global Cities. I enjoyed this and the contents of the book.

Really enjoyed this book. Detailed and comprehensive with clear prose. Very good, espcially for someone like me who had very little knowledge.