The Concrete Jungle: A History of Global Urbanism

Focusing on reinforced concrete technology, the purpose of this essay is to underscore the particular material conditions that made the concrete city—presented as synonymous with the modern urban condition—not only possible but global. By examining Chicago and Manila through the technologies that drove their tandem growth, this essay also argues for a different view of urbanization in the developing world, as a part of and not distinct from the urbanization of the colonial metropole.