This is a book conceived in the ever widening realm of design practice and education. It is premised on the belief that the forces of globalisation that have affected design practice for decades have, in recent years, manifest themselves in design education as well. Consequently, it brings authors, practitioners and educators together from ten countries across six continents. They each offer an overview of the socio-cultural and economic factors that affect the built environment in their particular region of the world. They discuss how the practices of architecture, interior design, planning and landscape architecture interact with those forces but, equally as importantly, they discuss how design education does the same.

This book then, is written by and for practitioners, educators and students of the built environment whose critical eye is prepared to scan the globe for lessons that are both universally, but also specifically applicable to their own geographical and discipline context. It is more specifically geared to those who see the built environment through a socio-political prism - as a phenomenon shaped by this broader none design context - but also as a model through which we can better understand that external context.