This document discusses several approaches to understanding urban political economy and sociology. It describes classical theories that view economic disparity and class conflict as driving urban development. Additionally, it discusses how capitalism concentrates people and economies spatially in a "double tendency". More recent theories examine how businesses choose locations to avoid unionization and how real estate investment is a leading driver of growth. The socio-spatial perspective views urban outcomes as linked to economic, political, and cultural factors and sees infrastructure and society as mutually influencing each other spatially.

1. Contemporary Urban
Sociology
The socio-spatial approach

2. Political Economy and the City: Classic
Approaches
Economic: inherent
economic disparity and
unaligned goals of the
two dominant social class
affiliations—the
proletariat and the
bourgeoisie, or labor and
capital
Weber
Engels
Spatial: a “double tendency”
of capitalism—capitalism
tends to concentrate economy
and people to main focal
points.
Political and cultural:
Capitalism and
urbanism grow from
the interactions of
political powers. E.g.:
when merchants were
protected from the
economic control of
feudal lords,
businesses flourished.

3. Uneven development
Variation in spatial affluence
Capital shifts to where return greatest
Spatial consequences
regional
local – low income areas
Government intervention
Spatial – urban renewal
Economic – transfer programs
New policy approaches needed
War on Poverty an endless one

4. The revival of Urban Political Economy: Henri
Lefebvre.
Urban political economy
Urban form a reflection of capitalism
Circuits of capital
primary circuit - production
secondary circuit – real estate – “there is
usually money to be made in real estate”
Space is a component of social organization
people alter space to suit their needs
space then influences behavior
Space as social control
Governments dictate the uses of space
“Abstract space” vs. “social space”

5. Class Conflict Theories:
Gordon, Storper and Walker
• Gordon: businesses choose locations
based on where people are less likely to
unionize or fight for higher wages.
• Before Storper and Walker, market and
production costs were considered the
primary determinants.
• Storper and Walker (1983) proposed the
Labor Theory of Locations, which argues
that labor—qualifications and the risk of
unionization—is the principal
determinant for where businesses
locate themselves.
• Reductionist? Labor force but also
political, social, cultural and irrational

6. Capital Accumulation Theory
• Harvey (1976)
• systematically combined the ideas of the
researchers before him and made four assertions
about urban development:
• The city is a catalyst for the “double tendency” of
capitalism;
• The capitalist and labor classes are spilt into multiple
factions that vie for different advantages;
• Cities cannot simply develop on the basis of capitalism,
the capitalist class will occasionally need government
intervention to assist with the profit-making process;
• The second circuit of capital is essential to how a city
develops, not the first circuit.

7. The Growth Machine vs. the Socio-Spatial
Perspective
• Growth machine focuses attention on the role of elites
and entrepreneurs in creating the growth of a city.
• Growth and development are seen as necessary for
the economic health of the city.
• Creating the conditions for growth is a matter of
politics.
• The success of a city is a product of its competition
with other cities, not just in the marketplace, but in
the corridors of power. The local elite must attract
national government investments and to persuade the
national government to adopt policy which favors the
city. Maybe it can get a major airport or defense
contracting or Amazon!
• Success for the elites, of course, is not necessarily
success for the ordinary citizen.

8. The Growth Machine vs. the Socio-Spatial
Perspective
• The Socio-Spatial Perspective
• Linked outcome of economic, political and cultural
• Real estate is a “leading edge” of change in metro areas
• State is relatively autonomous: acts in its own interest: All politicians
have is local space: politics is immobile
• Culture is influential (more in later chapters)
• Takes a global view
The socio-spatial perspective in urbanism research addresses how built infrastructure and society interact. It
assumes that social space operates as both a product and a producer of changes in the metropolitan environment

9. Real estate investment as the leading edge of
growth
• The push of economic factors
• The pull of government and real estate
• Causes of place entrepreneurship
• One’s power as a governing official is local (one cannot transfer powers of
Mayor to another town)
• Real estate is unique (there is only one place in the universe with a specific
latitude and longitude)