Shaping Cities in an Urban Age is the third book to come out of the London School of Economic's Urban Age project. It was published last fall. The first two titles were, Living in the Endless City (2011) and The Endless City (2007).

If you're familiar with the first two publications, you'll know that these books are heavily illustrated. Lots of maps, charts, and diagrams. So they make great coffee table books. But they're also filled with insightful essays -- this one has 37 of them.

In this particular book the focus is on the following:

"It identifies current trends that are making cities more fragmented, less equitable and environmentally more damaging, and argues powerfully for a more integrated social, environmental and spatial approach that can inform and inspire city-makers that are shaping an increasingly urban world."

I am sharing this with all of you today because I have always really enjoyed these books. They have a way of quickly putting things into perspective globally.

Around 2.5 billion more people are expected to live in an urban agglomeration by 2050. And 90% of this growth is expected to happen in just two places: Asia and Africa. This is an unprecedented shift that will obviously create many challenges and many opportunities.

This book is about that.

Image: Phaidon