Using a unique data-rich study of Newcastle’s becoming of a metropolitan city-region in the 19th century, this book explores a new understanding of how successful cities attain a metropolitan status through disruptions of incessant economic advances being ameliorated by myriad social organizations to create a new vibrant urban environment.

The book defines the specific process of ‘becoming metropolitan’ by bringing together economic and social urban studies to explain an interactive development that when successful, creates a metropolitan city region. In addition, a real example of this is meticulously described through a detailed case study that traces the process across decades to a metropolitan outcome. In doing so, it combines theoretical and empirical understandings within a single text and providing accessible information to a unique and large data set.

Becoming Metropolitan will appeal to graduates and researchers of Geography, Sociology, Planning and History specializing in cities and urban studies. It will also be valuable to a larger public audience with interest in cities, as ‘metropolitan’ is a commonplace idea easily understood, and in the case-study city.