Urban Systems and Regional Development

Since the 1950s, one of the most notable phenomena in world economic geography has been the rapid urbanization being experienced by most countries. Today, in most developed countries and many developing countries, more than 70 per cent of the population resides in cities. Although in the past, urbanization was almost synonymous with industrialization, the recent progress of so-called ‘industrialization’ has brought about a renewed trend of further urbanization in many countries. As a consequence, the economic activities of most countries are dominated by cities at present. Furthermore, cities are becoming more important, not only for each national economy but also for the world economy and trade. For example, the trade among many countries has been dominated increasingly by the exchange of the goods produced in their cities.