Are Cities Good For The World?

"Even Peter Hall, an eminent British academic who has written or edited nearly 30 books on urban issues, is hedging his bets. 'Up to a very recent point in human history, going into cities has been a considerable advantage to people,' he says. 'Whether it will go on being thus is a much more difficult matter.'

It's not like we can avoid the issue. 'The urban world is the only world we're going to have,' Hall observes. 'There's no going back, unless we have an unimaginable disaster.'

Here's a closer look at the pros and cons of the urban century."