Summary

This book focuses on cities, their relationships with each other and the disparities between them. Analysing cities as the places where diversity is especially apparent, where cultural richness is experienced and where conflicts often erupt, it illustrates how cultures and cultural diversity interact with economic growth and development.

The contributors provide valuable insight into how diverse cities should best be governed and made sustainable, and explore the concept of diversity in relation to sustainability. Building on segregation, assimilation and integration policies, the book indicates the need to develop policies that can govern diversity in a dynamic, nonlinear and spatio-temporal complex way. Case studies of eight culturally diverse cities (Stockholm, Baroda, Banska Bystrica, Chicago, London, Dortmund, Rome and Antwerp) clearly illustrate the relationship between diversity and development, identifying the conditions under which diversity leads to economic performance. These studies are underpinned by an econometric analysis of the relationship between diversity and development across European regions.

This unique book will prove a fascinating read to both academics and policymakers with a specific interest in public policy, regional and urban studies, and more generally in economics, the environment and ecology.