Urban Political Ecology Beyond Methodological Cityism

The concept of planetary urbanization has emerged in recent years amongst neo-Lefebvrian urban scholars who see urbanization as a process taking place at all spatialscales. This article analyses recent critiques of the urban political ecology (UPE) literaturewhich argue that much of the work in the field has been guilty of focusing exclusively onthe traditional bounded city unit rather than urbanization as a process. In response, thearticle reviews various strands of the UPE literature which have (always) moved beyond‘the city’ to consider the various metabolisms and circulations of humans and non-humansconnecting cities with places outside of their borders at a variety of scales. Furthermore,it suggests how these approaches can productively work with the insights of the planetaryurbanization literature, in considering both the changing nature of urbanization and alsothe socio-ecological and political implications of these changes. Finally, the article suggestshow the methodological approach of the ‘site multiple’ and its focus on everyday practicesand lived experiences can be useful for researching diverse urban phenomena and theirmore-than-urban connections.