A group of academics and practitioners in urban planning and development present an array of essays, primarily focused on Pacific Rim cities, that analyze successful policies and programmes in urban development and explain why they have worked. These essays identify a number of key themes of change that are leading to innovation in strategic planning and management of urban regions/cities in the context of globalization, economic restructuring, social change, and the changing interface between government, the private sector, and the community sectors. These themes include, among others: electronic commerce and its impact on urban development, community involvement in planning, historical preservation, strategies for central city growth and revival, private sector versus government leadership in planning, creation of new cities from scratch contrasted with reinventing existing cities, and tools for urban planning and management. This should be a useful tool to all those actively involved and interested in the process of urban development worldwide.