Guest editorial introduction: Understanding island cities

Abstract

Island studies research has traditionally focused on relatively rural, peripheral, and isolated communities, yet island cities (strongly urbanized small islands or archipelagos or major population centres of large islands or archipelagos) also represent an important research area. Island spatiality has a host of historical and continuing effects on urban development, influencing urban densification and agglomeration, zonal differentiation, and neighbourhood formation in cities both big and small. This special section of Island Studies Journal includes papers on the island cities and urban archipelagos of Peel (Isle of Man, British Isles), Nuuk (Greenland), Palma de Majorca (Spain), Belize City (Belize), and Mumbai (India). The Island Cities and Urban Archipelagos research network seeks to help enrich wider island studies scholarship and contribute to introducing the island dimension to urban studies.

Keywords

• island cities
• island spatiality
• island studies
• urban archipelagos
• urban development