Southern urbanism: a systematic review of concepts, debates, and future directions

Abstract

A significant part of urban theory now engages with southern cities. In this paper, we synthesize the various theoretical propositions and influential concepts that have shaped the rapidly emerging field of southern urbanism in urban studies. We conduct a systematic review of the literature that engages with the idea of southern urbanism. We trace the origins and theoretical landscape of southern urbanism, from being characterized as the global South to being deployed as a theoretical strategy to critique all urban theory. We synthesize the most influential concepts that have attempted to describe observed phenomena in the southern urban space. We identify seven characteristics that dominate the everyday realities of southern cities, making them distinct from their northern counterparts. In addition, we identify existing gaps in the literature and discuss their implications for research in planning. In the discussion, we attempt to create a simplified conceptual toolbox that can be useful for future studies in southern cities' contexts. We conclude the paper by providing a framework using five characteristics of southern cities as potential starting points in future inquiries in urban planning.