In the last decade a new wave of urban research has emerged, putting comparative perspectives back on the urban studies agenda. However, this research is frequently based on similar case studies, on a few selected cities in America and Europe, and all too often focus on the abstract city level with marginal attention given to particular local contexts. Moving away from loosely defined urban theories and contexts, this book argues that it is timely to start learning from, and compare across different "contested cities". It questions urban studies and planning research long standing Euro-centric academic knowledge production, methodological regionalism and incommensurability. It brings together a diverse range of international case studies from Latin America, South and South East Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East to offer an in-depth understating of the worldwide contested nature of cities with a detailed review from a wide range of local contexts. It suggests an urban ontology that moves beyond the urban 'West' and 'North' as well as adding a comparative-relational understanding of the contested nature that 'Southern' cities are developing.