f A New Paradigm: Glocal Urbanism and Architecture of Rapidly Developing Countries

The multiple new readings of globalization illuminate the global and local pressures upon the city and its particular forms of spatial organization and various architectures. Recent investigations and approaches thus reveal a revised image for the city based on innovative visions and values. The various aspects of these new developments in scholarship are complex and analysed here under six rubrics – synthetic cities and new urban forms; the Central Business District (CBD) as a generator of growth; skyscrapers as symbols of the new modernity; global architecture appropriated into the local; tourism; historic preservation and the vernacular; and, housing environments for the poor. By carefully considering the overlapping emphases of these rubrics, this editorial indicates a new paradigm within which to consider urbanism.