CITB02H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter week4: Capital Flight, Social Reproduction, Income Distribution
JOHN FRIEDMANN: THE WORLD CITY HYPOTHESIS
- Harvey and Castells linked city forming processes to industrial capitalism city was then
viewed as a product of specifically social forces set in motion by capitalist relations of
production
oClass conflict became central to city evolution
- Study of cities is now shifting to the world economy
- Friedmann’s thesis: world city hypothesis is about the spatial organization of the
international division of labour concerns the contradictory relations between
production in the era of global management and the political determination of
territorial interests
- Has 7 theses about the world city hypothesis
1. The form and extent of a city’s integration with the world economy, and the functions
assigned to the city in the new spatial division of labour, will be decisive for any
structural changes
a. City: a spatially integrated economic and social system at a given
location/metropolitan region
b. Integration with the world capitalist system: specific forms, intensity, and
duration of the relations that link the urban economy into the global system of
markets for capital, labour and commodities
c. Functions assigned to it in the new spatial division of labour: standard def. of
the world capitalist system is that it corresponds to a single spatial division of
labour w/I this division, different localities (national/regional/urban) perform
specialized roles eg. Metropolitan = HQ functions, financial centres, articulate
regional/national economies w/I global system NY does all 3
d. Structural changes occurring within it: changes in metropolitan function, the
structure of metropolitan labour markets, and the physical form of cities can be
explained w/ ref. to a worldwide process that affects: the direction and volume
of TN flows, and the spatial div. of finance/management/production
d.i. These economic influences are modified by certain endogenous
conditions 1. Spatial patterns of historical accumulation, 2. National
policies (protect national system from outside comp.), 3. Social
conditions (eg. Apartheid)
2. Key cities throughout the world are used by global capital as ‘basing points’ in the
spatial organization and articulation of production and markets; the resulting linkages
make it possible to arrange world cities into a complex spatial hierarchy.
- All but 2 world cities are located in core countries
- Euro. World cities are difficult to categorize b/c small size + specialized
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Harvey and castells linked city forming processes to industrial capitalism city was then viewed as a product of specifically social forces set in motion by capitalist relations of production: class conflict became central to city evolution. Study of cities is now shifting to the world economy. Friedmann"s thesis: world city hypothesis is about the spatial organization of the international division of labour concerns the contradictory relations between production in the era of global management and the political determination of territorial interests. These economic influences are modified by certain endogenous conditions 1. National policies (protect national system from outside comp. All but 2 world cities are located in core countries. World cities are difficult to categorize b/c small size + specialized. Dirving force for world city growth is found in a small # of expanding sectors: corporate. Hqs, international finance, global transport and communications, and high-level business services (eg. advertising, accounting, legal, insurance etc. : also: ny/la/lon/par are info/entertainment/news centers.
