Introduction
Half the world’s population now lives in urban centers, the majority of it in towns and secondary cities surrounding metropolitan centers. All of these together constitute the economic geography of a region. The health of the region depends on the interactions among its constituent elements.
It is matter of concern that the focus of policymakers in many developing countries remains cities as isolated entities rather than as parts of a network to be optimized. There are rarely any policy or vision statements that articulate the role that secondary cities might play in national development. This is a serious omission in countries where the urban transition is underway and the contours of the future are very much in flux. Many different trajectories are possible depending on the policy choices and interventions that are made at this time.
The objective of this initiative is to highlight the issue of economic geography and to make it a part of academic and public debate in Pakistan.
