From Understanding to Action – Sustainable Urban Development in Medium-Sized Cities in Africa and Latin America is a critical piece of academic writing, with unique and foreshadowing insights into urban development. The rapid rate at which the urban population of our planet is growing, and the particular influence this has on developing regions is the core catalyst of this book. Small- & medium-sized cities are expected to be influenced the most by these developments, as rising populations will rapidly transform these into large metropoles. We have witnessed such patterns, which today have formed “mega-cities” confronted with severe challenges reaching such a gigantic and complex scale, that these appear to be impossible to tackle. Marco Keiner, Christopher Zegras, Willy Schmid and Diego Salmerón have thus offered a visionary perspective on preventative measures to be taken in cities of a smaller scale that are expected to be largely effected, in order to establish a long-term basis for sustainable urban development (SUD) and thereby avoid the expansion threatening environments, such as some of the ones we know today. The authors have based their arguments on findings revealed by the Designing, Implementing and Measuring Sustainable Urban Development (DIMSUD) research project sponsored by the Alliance for Global Sustainability (AGS), which focussed on three specific cases in different locations; namely Johannesburg, Gabarone and Santiago de Chile. The following review aims to briefly highlight some of the core themes of this book, to then analyse and interpret these in their context before discussing and challenging their applicability. The following three themes touched upon in the discussed book, are the focus of this review: structural disruption, information flows and contextualization. Firstly, the authors discuss and criticize the very slow pace of SUD that can be observed in developing countries. This seems to primarily be a result of governmental, societal and traditional structures, which hinder a shift of perspectives, and therefore make it very difficult to implement dynamic changes. Disrupting these structures and triggering a deeper understanding of potential implications, as well as of the weakness of mere diplomatic, instead of active and pragmatic agreements, is therefore a vital theme. Secondly, Keiner & co. clearly argue for a democratization of information regarding SUD, in order to improve the average understanding and thereby trigger a stronger, more widely supported momentum. More specifically, bringing academia and practice (i.e. society) closer together, for the first to be understand the feasibility of certain visions imposed in practice, and for the latter to be more open and willing to give in to academically supported changes. Lastly, at multiple occasions this work focusses on contextualization. The empathy for differing contexts, including the ones revealed by the three cases discussed, is frequently emphasized as a crucial element of successful planning. For example, when discussing the vision of universal indicators to measure SUD, the writers clarify that these must ultimately “reflect political reality, information availability and relevant scale of analysis.” (M Keiner et al. (eds.), From Understanding to Action, 157. © 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.) This last theme is perhaps the most crucial one, not only in this book, but within (sustainable) urban development. While it is a factor that makes successful developments incredibly difficult, it cannot be ignored and plays a role within every dimension – whether cultural and traditional, social and governmental, infrastructural and economical, or any other. However, taking this into account, makes it very difficult to support generalizing concepts. Hence, should the flexibility to adapt to local contexts indeed be the most vital element of successful (S)UD, then one must argue against any concept aiming for universal applicability. In Steiner’s words discussing an excellent small-scale example, “context is the single most important variable in determining the suitable width for a pedestrian-friendly street.”(F Steiner et al., Planning and Urban Design Standards, 163. © 2007 Wiley) Following this example, it would be entirely illogical to develop an internationally applicable formula to determine the suitable width for a pedestrian-friendly street, as various incalculable, contextual factors would contribute to an accurate response. This logic can then also be applied on a larger scale, including the one discussed by Keiner. In conclusion, Keiner, Zegras, Schmid and Salmerón have presented a refreshing and very enlightening account of an approach to Sustainable Urban Development. Tackling this using unique case studies, pursued in a highly sophisticated manner over an extensive timeframe and leading to ground-breaking results, they have evidently touched upon various crucial themes. This review has chosen to focus on structural disruption, information flows and contextualization. The reasoning for this is, that these reflect the plethora of relevant angles that this work has taken to discuss SUD, thereby considering a multitude of complexities. Particularly within these themes, the authors have reflected a deep understanding and awareness of the context within individual case studies and have come to relevant conclusions. However, their awareness of and sensitivity for the significant relevance of context may perhaps be the strongest weakness of this work. While consistently emphasizing the importance of context and the impossibility to generalize, the authors have made this very mistake themselves. From Understanding to Action – Sustainable Urban Development in Medium-Sized Cities in Africa and Latin America is therefore a work that is highly relevant to all individuals and parties with an interest for (S)UD, and can be particularly useful to experts and academics directly involved in implementing their own visions of (S)UD. Nevertheless, readers should be attentive to this paradox, by which the authors have on one hand underlined and proven the significance of context, yet on the other hand have thereby weakened their argument and the concrete applicability of their findings. Bibliography: M Keiner et al. (eds.), From Understanding to Action. © 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. F Steiner et al., Planning and Urban Design Standards. © 2007 Wiley