The great cities of Europe and North America experienced unparalleled growth in the late 19th century and first three quarters of the 20th century on the basis of mercantile and industrial prosperity. Suddenly, as economic structures and urban functions have changed, the role of the city has dramatically altered, with sometimes painful consequences for urban populations, fabric and economies. Urban historian Professor Lawton has brought together a group of distinguished scholars to examine the changing nature of the "urban fact" within a comparative framework. The scope of the book is both historical and contemporary with the lessons for the future kept clearly in view. The book opens with a broad analysis of the nature of urbanization in the West between AD 1800-2000, charting the main forces that have shaped cities in the period. Individual chapters from leading urbanists follow the themes through in detail dealing in turn with urban economies, planning, attitudes to urban life, commercial structures, population, public health, housing, recent extensions of the "city region" and the future role of cities as hubs of a global information network. As both prospect and retrospect, this book provides a comment and summary of modern western urbanism which will be of interest to social scientists and historians concerned with cities.