Global Urbanization

Acknowledgments

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s In July 2007, in Italy, the Rockefeller Foundation hosted the month-long Global Urban Summit at its Bellagio Center. The foundation invited the Penn Institute for Urban Research (IUR) to develop a week-long session , ‘‘Toward a Twenty-First-Century Urban Agenda,’’ to explore emerging research issues related to twenty-first-century urbanization. The conferees collectively surveyed the state of current knowledge, highlighted gaps, and aimed to set an agenda to guide future research. This volume, Global Urbanization, is representative of the attendees’ efforts to wrestle with these issues. This volume would not have been possible without the support and guidance of the Rockefeller Foundation, especially the vision and commitment of its president, Judith Rodin, and its vice president, Darren Walker, which brought this entire enterprise to life. Additional thanks go to Anna Brown, a Rockefeller Foundation senior research associate who was an active participant in the entire planning process. Thanks also to Pilar Palacia, managing director, Bellagio Center, whose gracious and accommodating presence made for a productive conference. Neal Pierce, Curtis Johnson, and Farley Peters of the Citistates Group were accurate and insightful recorders, as their volume, Century of the City: No Time to Lose (2008), a summary of the entire conference, testifies. Penn IUR is indebted to the continued support of its advisory board, the President’s Office, and the Provost’s Office at the University of Pennsylvania . Their commitment to developing and disseminating the forms of knowledge necessary for sound urban policy makes publications like this possible. The editors of the volume are grateful to the authors, whose rigor and intelligence this book showcases; to Penn IUR staff Kendra Goldbas, Maritza Mercado, Amy Montgomery, Daniel Stout, and Julie Thompson for their hard work and dedication throughout this project; and to Peter Agree and the leadership and staff at Penn Press, particularly development editor Audra Wolfe, whose thoroughness and care helped guide and shape the volume. The views expressed in this volume are those of the individual authors and not those of our sponsor organizations. ...