"Exceptionally well researched and data-rich study. A brief summary chapter on recent Caribbean Basin urban trends is followed by two longer in-depth studies of Costa Rican changes (esp. in metropolitican San José) and of Guatemala City. Close attention is paid to 30-40 years of economic...

"Comparative, historical study of Caribbean urbanization includes chapters by S. Manigat on Haiti, D. Gordon and S. Dixon on Jamaica, and W. Lozano and I. Duarte on the Dominican Republic. Each chapter reviews governmental economic policy and its effects on urban areas, class divisions, urban...

"The span of this empirically focused work is actually wider than the title suggests, extending its analyses back to the 1920s. Throughout, the changing role of the State in economic life, specifically with respect to the housing sector, is related to popular needs, demands, and movements. Both...