Lecture A great transformation is taking place in the urbanization process and in urbanism as a way of life. Is this transformation just an extension of the metropolitan model, or is there more to it? Visiting scholar at The Amsterdam Centre of Globalisation Studies (ACGS) Edward W. Soja, will give a lecture on this topic. The metropolitan model of urban development, with separate and distinct urban and suburban worlds, is slowly breaking down and being replaced by a regional model of urbanization. The boundary between the urban and suburban is eroding away, as much of suburbia urbanizes in such new forms as edge cities, outer cities, boomburbs, metroburbia, post suburbia, urban villages, in-between cities, hybrid cities. Edward W. Soja argues that this is not just an extension of the metropolitan model but the sign of an emergent new form of regional urbanization, creating globalized megaregions that, in places like the Pearl River Delta in China reach a population of more than 120 million. Edward W. Soja The Amsterdam Centre of Globalisation Studies (ACGS) is honoured to host Eward W. Soja as its 2013 visiting scholar. Prof. Soja is Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, and for many years was Centennial Visiting Professor in the Cities Programme, London School of Economics. He is the author of, among other books, Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Theory, Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places, Seeking Spatial Justice and Postmetropolis: Critical Studies of Cities and Regions. Prof. Soja’s wide-ranging studies of Los Angeles bring together traditional political economy approaches and recent trends in critical cultural studies. In addition to his work on urban restructuring in Los Angeles, Dr. Soja continues to write on how social scientists and philosophers think about space and geography, especially in relation to how they think about time and history.