1. Introduction

The first section of this introductory chapter offers some empirical and theoretical background to this edited volume. It is argued that in our contemporary world urbanisation not only refers to the territorial expansion of cities but to processes occurring in previously non-urban settings. So far, this has been studied through a variety of distinct theoretical perspectives, including Neo-Marxian accounts on planetary urbanisation, which understand these processes as inevitable outcomes of capitalism, and alternative ‘Southern’ projects based mainly on post-structural and post-colonial approaches, which emphasise local particularities of emerging urban spaces. The second part of this chapter outlines both the extent to which the different contributions in this edited volume engage with these different theoretical perspectives, mainly through empirical contextualisation, and how they seek to overcome problems of universalism and particularism in the study of emerging urban spaces. Reflecting on the different contributions of this edited volume, the final section proposes guidelines for future research. It calls for an ‘open reading’ of Henri Lefebvre’s ouevre and the need to mobilise what is referred to herein as (1) the right to the urban, (2) difference and pluralism, and (3) the naturalisation of the urban. Taken together, we argue that this enables us to view the urban as a relational and co-produced configuration, which is in constant interaction both with other urban settings elsewhere and with the environment in which it is situated.