Welcome to the Urban Revolution

How Cities Are Changing the World

By Jeb Brugmann

As of this decade, more than half the earth's population lives in cities; our world is not just globalized, but urbanized. This powerful reappraisal draws on two decades of fieldwork and research to show how the metropolis has become a medium for revolutionary social change. Not just political upheaval but technological, economic, and cultural innovations are forged in our urban centers. From Chicago to Mumbai, in every corner of the world, the city is now a laboratory for revolution, brewing potential solutions to poverty, inequality, and sustainability. Bridging urban studies, economics, and sociology, Jeb Brugmann's Welcome to the Urban Revolution turns traditional urbanism on its head, and offers an inspiring new way of understanding our cities.

Advance Praise for Welcome to the Urban Revolution

“Brugmann provides compelling evidence of an often invisible connection between globalization and urbanization. In the process he shines a new light on large cities and urban slums. He shows that slums are dynamic and well functioning economic hubs. Drawing on an exhaustive supply of first hand knowledge, he is about to change the conversation about globalization, economic development, city planning and poverty. If you are interested in challenges of the 21st century, this book is for you.”—C.K. Prahalad, Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor, Ross School of Business, the University of Michigan, author of The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits

“Writing from his long on-the-ground global experience, Jeb Brugmann has provided a rich and accessible menu of deep insights, engaging stories, and surprising facts about a world of cities. His Welcome to the Urban Revolution is a prophecy of hope and political challenge to us all.”—Michael Cohen, Director of International Affairs Program, The New School, former Senior Advisor for Environmentally Sustainable Development at the World Bank

“Jeb Brugmann is a strategist of great analytical power. His book is the work of a person who with great acuity captures important moments in cities around the globe. It is a fundamental reference for all those who wish to understand how cities can change the world.”—Jaime Lerner, architect and urban planner, former mayor of Curitiba and governor of Parana state, Brazil; president of International Union of Architects, 2002-2005

Reviews for Welcome to the Urban Revolution:

“[An] important and immensely engaging book…[Brugmann] brings to his writing an intimate street-level understanding of urban processes which echoes that of Jane Jacobs.”—Planetizen.

“Absorbing”—Next American City.

“Totally fascinating.”— Vanessa Bush, Booklist, starred review

“Urbanist Brugmann (Business and Environment/Cambridge Univ.) proposes a transformation in the way we view our cities... worth it for the author’s positive perspective on an extremely broad and challenging issue.”—Kirkus Reviews

“replete with detail and compelling analyses”—Publishers Weekly