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A teenager wears torn rubber boots in a muddy local market in Bac Ha, Viet Nam. As of 2005 figures, half the world population—more than 3 billion people–is estimated to live on less than USD 2.50 a day. Bac Ha, Viet Nam. UN Photo/Kibae Park.

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WP/26 Evolving City Systems

2010-26.pdf 2010-26.pdf (174.4 kilobytes)
This paper reviews the literature on the forces driving urbanization in developing countries. It presents a model outlining how globalization can lead to the evolution of an urban structure which may approximate Zipf’s law. Policy implications are outlined.
Publisher:
UNU-WIDER
Series:
WIDER Working Paper
Volume:
2010/26
Title:
WP/26 Evolving City Systems
Authors:
Henry G. Overman and Anthony J. Venables
Publication date:
March 2010
ISBN 13 Web:
978-92-9230-261-0
Copyright holder:
© UNU-WIDER
Copyright year:
2010
Keywords:
urbanization, globalization, agglomeration, city systems
JEL:
O10, O18, R10, R12
Project:
Development in an Urban World
Sponsor:
UNU-WIDER acknowledges the financial contributions to the research programme by the governments of Denmark (Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Finland (Ministry for Foreign Affairs), Sweden (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency—Sida) and the United Kingdom (Department for International Development).
Format:
online and printed copies