The purpose of this chapter is to examine the contribution of urbanisation and associated policies to inclusive economic development in leading nations of the global south. The BRICS is a grouping of fast growing, middle-income, emerging powers to rival Europe and North America. They accounted for almost half of the growth in world output between 2000 and 2010, while their share of global production increased from 17 % to 26%. With four of the ten largest economies in the world, what these states say and do is increasingly important for urbanization as well as for many other international concerns.
Human Sciences Research Council (2026) studied this question.