Does the long history of urbanization present identifiable regularities through time and space? Are there long-run trends in the development process? In the complex evolution of human societies are there other determining factors than political decisions, statesmen, wars, economic crises, religions, races, cultures, languages, and sociologicalvalues? Is the geographical space a simple setting or a major element of the urban world's evolution? Those are some fundamental questions this bookaddresses in an original way that mixes historical facts, a world scope, an encyclopedic culture, reflections, and space-economic theory. From Çatalhöyük and Jericho to London, São Paulo, Los Angeles, Johannesburg, Shanghai and Tokyo, it reconstitutes the fascinating journey of the urban evolution.