title: Balancing global city with global village.
abstract: The discourse on habitat and human settlements is increasingly dominated by that of the global, mega-city.  If the aim of those of us in the human settlements field are to improve our understanding of and action on habitat and human settlements, this, often exclusive, focus is a mistake.  Our habitat is better understood and acted upon as a network of interwoven settlements and surrounding countryside, large and small, themselves interwoven within our larger ecosystem.  In this network the habitat of our smaller settlements (smaller cities, towns, villages) and rural areas and our global village also plays a critical role.  The assumption can be challenged that urbanization and the mega-city are the critical issues of habitat and human settlements.  Evidence suggests that with some rurbanization there is also counter urbanization, the ruralization of cities, and, perhaps most important, a growing urbanization as city-country interactions intensify.  Habitat for all and habitat for a healthy, sustainable planet demands our openness to these new concepts and realities.  It demands an integrated, balanced, approach which helps a wide range of living settlement nodes, large and small, to nurture each other.  Global City and Global Village must go hand in hand.  Our planetary and human health depends on it.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Afshar
mesh_terms: D003710:Demography; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D004777:Environment; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005843:Geography; D011153:Population; D011157:Population Dynamics; D014505:Urban Population; D014507:Urbanization
keywords: Critique; Demographic Factors; Environment; Geographic Factors; Migration; Population; Population Dynamics; Settlement And Resettlement; Spatial Distribution; Urban Spatial Distribution; Urbanization; World