【摘要】Contemporary processes of urbanisation present major challenges   for urban research and theory as urban areas expand and interweave. In this   process, urban forms are constantly changing and new urban configurations are   frequently evolving. An adequate understanding of urbanisation must derive   its empirical and theoretical inspirations from the multitude of urban   experiences across the various divides that shape the contemporary world. New   concepts and terms are urgently required that would help, both analytically   and cartographically, to decipher the differentiated and rapidly mutating   landscapes of urbanisation that are being produced today. One of the key   procedures to address these challenges is the application of comparative   strategies. Based on postcolonial critiques of urban theory and on the   epistemologies of planetary urbanisation, this paper introduces and discusses   the theoretical and methodological framework of a collaborative comparative   study of urbanisation processes in eight large metropolitan territories   across the world: Tokyo, Hong Kong/Shenzhen/Dongguan, Kolkata, Istanbul,   Lagos, Paris, Mexico City and Los Angeles. In order to approach these large   territories, a specific methodological design is applied mainly based on   qualitative methods and a newly developed method of mapping. After the   presentation of the main lines of our theoretical and methodological approach   we discuss some of the new comparative concepts that we developed through   this process: popular urbanisation, plotting urbanism, multilayered patchwork   urbanisation and the incorporation of urban differences.