Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : world cities and urban form / Mike Jenks, Daniel Kozak and Pattaranan Takkanon -- What is a "world class" city? : comparing conceptual specifications of cities in the context of a global urban network / Ben Derudder and Frank Witlox -- Globalisation and the forms of cities / Peter Marcuse -- The world city hypothesis revisited : export and import of urbanity is a dangerous business / Darko Radovic -- Sustainability and the "world class" city : what is being sustained and for who? / Judy Rogers -- Polycentrism and "defragmentation" : towards a more sustainable urban form? / Mike Jenks and Daniel Kozak -- Promoting sustainable urban form : implementing urban consolidation policies around the Helsinki metropolitan region / Olli Maijala and Rauno Sairinen -- Spatial disparities based on human and social capital / Natasa Urbancikova and Oto Hudec -- The model Barcelona : 1979-2004 and beyond / Jaume Carne and Aleksandar Ivancic -- Sustainable "world class" cities and glocal sprawl in Southeast Asian metropolitans / Sidh Sintusingha -- Quality of life and spatial urban forms of mega-city regions in Japan / Kiyonobu Kaido and Jeahyun Kwon -- Global integration, growth patterns and sustainable development : a case study of the peri-urban area of Shanghai / Jiaping Wu -- Taichung the waiting metropolis and its campaign towards a "world class" city : a case of glocollision, glocoalition or glocalisation? / Shih-wei Lo -- "World class" Vancouver : a terminal city re-imagined / May So -- Planning a "world class" city without zoning : the experience of Houston / Zhou Qian -- Aspects of urban fragmentation -- Assessing urban fragmentation : the emergence of new typologies in central Buenos Aires / Daniel Kozak -- Tracking sustainable urban forms and material flows in Singapore / Perry Pei-Ju Yang -- The right to the city : stakeholder perspectives of greater Cairo metropolitan communities / Wael Salah Fahmi -- "World class" living? / Nuttinee Karnchanaporn and Apradee Kasemsook -- Bangkok's struggle to achieve a successful transportation system / Wapen Charoentrakulpeeti and Willi Zimmerman -- To be or not to be a "world class" city? : poverty and urban form in Paris and Bucharest / Oana-Liliana Pavel -- Inner truth of the slums in mega cities : a scenario from India / Vijay Neekhra, Takashi Onishi and T. Kidokoro -- Conclusion : the form of cities to come? / Mike Jenks, Daniel Kozak and Pattaranana Takkanon.