The book contains l5 papers presented at a workshop sponsored by the Dutch Research Community on Third World Urban Development. These are arranged according to a gradually shifting perspcctive, starting with articles on urban history with the stress subsequently falling more and more on aspects of urban planning, and the focus gradually chinging to the contemporary situation. This focus then becomes fixed on the urban informal sector in studies on household incomes and ethnic relations and on various socio-economic systems within this sector. ln the end the informal sector is treated as a whole, with the attention being switched from big cities ro small towns. The notion of urban diversity is expressed in this volume through the inclusion of a multiplicity of cities and towns such as Bandung, old Bantam. Jakarta and JABOTABEK. Majapahit, Makasar, Salatiga, Semarang, Sriwijaya, Surabaya and the towns of the Serayu Valley. A lengthy introduction to the papers has been provided by the editor. A 44-page compre-hensive bibliography of relevant literature in western languages and Indonesians concludes the book.