How does the process of planetary urbanization reshape our understanding of the relationship between city and hinterland?

Abstract

The literature review by Giulia Lemes asks: “How does the process of planetary urbanization reshape our understanding of the relationship between city and hinterland?” It begins with the definitions of “planetary urbanization” by Henri Lefebvre and “extended urbanization” by Brenner and Schmid, to comprehend the transformation of the concept of urbanization from a morphological aspect to a process. From this perspective, the review analyses how authors consider “urbanization as a process” as a turning point in the relation between city and hinterland, which can now be considered part of a network of total urbanization of the world, from “methodological cityism” to “urbanization without an outside”, as explained by Angelo and Wachsmuth. The work also presents some of the main points of this relational transformation as described by Brenner and Katsikis. Finally, it explores the open debates on the subject. Arboleda (2015) and Ghosh and Meer (2021) propose a new political view of these non-city spaces, reshaping the concept of the “right to the city”. Another critique comes from Ananya Roy, who questions the idea of an urban totality.