SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBALIZATION: NEW STRATEGIES FOR NEW CHALLENGES - WITH A FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH

The differences between the countries of the 'Global North' and those of the 'Global South' are clear in various fields, namely sociocultural fields, due to unequal wealth distribution and its consequent economic inequalities. But to what extent can the phenomenon of urbanization join these two worlds that seem so far apart? Considering the rapid urbanization of several cities in the Global South today, compared with the stabilized rate of urbanization in the Global North, information sharing would be beneficial and the Global North may provide guidance to those rapidly growing cities presently undergoing the process of urbanization. Such a transmission of knowledge could be achieved through cooperation between social institutions, such as universities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and social actors, such as public decision-makers. Editors Agostino Petrillo and Paola Bellaviti, in their book Sustainable Urban Development and Globalization: New Strategies for New Challenges, present a number of practical examples from around the world of such cooperation between the Global North and Global South.. This review presents a general summary of the book, as well as an evaluation of its possible contribution to the field of urban sociology.