Article in: Environment and Urbanization 

Authors: Shlomo Angel, Jason Parent, and Daniel L. Civco

First published: 2012

Pages: 249-283

Overview:  A key question that has confronted urban planners, policy makers and concerned environmentalists worldwide for some time is whether the fragmentation of the urban landscape is an inherent feature of contemporary cities that must be taken into account in planning for and managing urban expansion, or whether it is a disorderly, wasteful and undesirable form of sprawl that must be brought under control through containment or growth management strategies of one type or another.

Full Text: The Fragmentation of Urban Landscapes (PDF)

Article in: China’s Housing Reform and Outcomes

Authors: Shlomo Angel, Midori Valdiva, and Rebecca M. Lutzy

First published: 2011

Pages: 137-156

Overview:  This volume provides background and explanations about the causes and consequences of China’s boom in residential construction, and it reviews how some well-established and ongoing trends are likely to impact China’s housing sector in coming years.

Full Text: Urban Expansion, Land Conversion, and Affordable Housing (PDF)

Article in: Progress in Planning, Volume 75, Issue 2

Authors: Shlomo Angel, J. Parent, D. L. Civco, A.M. Blei and D. Potere

First published: 2011

Pages: 53-108

Overview: The rapid growth in global urban land cover is likely to continue as long as urban populations continue to grow, as long as incomes continue to rise, and as long as urban transport remains relatively cheap and affordable.  This article therefore seeks to refocus the attention of planners, policy makers and concerned activists on urban expansion in developing countries and to begin to examine its policy implications.

Full Text: The Dimensions of Global Urban Expansion (PDF)

Article in: The New Global Frontier: Urbanization, Poverty and Environment in the 21st Century

Authors: Shlomo Angel

First published: 2008

Pages: 115-130

Overview: This chapter focuses on the provision of land for the urban poor in a context of rapid urban expansion.  It describes a methodology and provides a concrete demonstration of how the land needs of the poor can be effectively met, using examples from five mid-sized cities in Ecuador.

Full Text: Preparing for Urban Expansion (PDF)

Article in: Cities 25 (3)

Authors: Shlomo Angel

First published: June 2008

Pages: 146-162

Overview: Between 2000 and 2030, cities in developing countries will double their population from 2 to 4 billion and at least triple their total built-up area. This essay assesses the state of preparedness for the projected urban expansion. 

Full Text: An Arterial Grid of Dirt Roads (PDF)

Article Information: Transport and Urban Development Department, The World Bank, Washington D.C.

Authors: Shlomo Angel, Stephen C. Sheppard and Daniel L. Civco, with Robert Buckley, Anna Chabaeva, Lucy Gitlin, Alison Kraley, Jason Parent, and Micah Perlin

Date: September, 2005

Overview: This study examined the dynamics of global urban expansion by defining a new universe of 3,943 cities with population in excess of 100,000 and drawing a stratified global sample of 120 cities from this universe. Population data and satellite images for two time periods⎯a decade apart⎯were obtained and analyzed, and several measures of urban extent and expansion⎯among them the built-up area of cities and the average density of the built-up area⎯were calculated. Data for 90 cities out of the global sample of 120 is presented and analyzed in this report.

Full Text (unpublished): The Dynamics of Global Urban Expansion (PDF)

Article in: Journal of the Siam Society

Authors: Shlomo Angel

First published: 1988

Pages: 245-259

Overview: This essay seeks to explode some of the prevailing myths regarding migration and settlement in Thailand. Between 1961 and 1982 for example, the rural population of Thailand grew from 24 to 43 million people. The question is: “where have all these people gone?”

Full Text: Where Have All the People Gone? (PDF)