This course examines the patterns, causes, and consequences of urbanization and suburbanization. While the major focus will be on the development of cities, metropolitan areas, and megalopolitan regions within the United States, a major goal of the course is to understand the increasingly critical role that economic globalization plays in creating uneven development and decline within and among cities and metropolitan regions throughout the world. Specific topics to be investigated include: urban renewal and redevelopment; residential segregation; gentrification; conflicts over land use; urban planning; and the problems of concentrated poverty and crime in central cities.