The Study of Cities in Developing Countries:

Abstract

Urbanization patterns and the way of life in Japan that developed after the war may share something in common with those in newly developing countries in Asia. While that possibility exists, it is very difficult to determine in what way the Japanese experiences illuminate what is happening in other developing countries because there has not been much research to compare the Japanese and Asian urbanization experiences. Consequently, this paper first reviews the research done by Japanese urban sociologists on developing country cities, then, propose an analytical framework by which to shed light on the urbanization experiences in developing countries in comparative perspective. The preliminary analysis on the growth pattern of the metropolitan areas is presented at the end together with a caveat when analyzing the social organizational pattern in urban areas of Asia.