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1. Consumer Capitalism and Urban Life:
The purpose of this essay is to analyse how consumer capitalism has affected urban
life. It presents several contemporary and historic examples to show how current urban life is
the by-product of consumer capitalism. Shopping malls, parks, feminism and the concept of
sales have been used to explain and discuss the outcome of consumer capitalism on urban
life.
Zukin (1998) argued that since the early 90s, the concept and characteristics of urban
life have changed to a great deal. Urban lifestyles have transformed from being a set of fair
social order into an aggressive cultural capital where consumption is the first priority. Zukin
(1998) also explains that due to the higher rates of consumption, the cities are viewed as
lands of consumption rather than lands of production. These consumption lands prioritise
economics, total income, and availability of leisure items, culture and travel. The emphasis
on such factors helps increase consumer rate and income. Furthermore, Zukin (1998) claims
that urban lifestyles are both the result and raw material of the symbolic economic growth.
One explanation of the changes in the urban life style can be explained by the
liberation movements of the sixties and seventies, which resulted in demolishing the rich and
poor class barriers. The marketing society took control before any self-actualization or
realisation could take place. The quest for finding true identity and asking the famous
question, ‘How should I live’ that had started the liberation movement, was led by the
marketing society (Hamilton, 2004). Capitalist marketers took initiative and used the identity
search to sell more cars, shoes, watches, mobile phones, clothes and several sorts of
accessories. Furthermore, celebrity culture was used to brand products (Hamilton, 2004).
Popularity of celebrities was capitalised to inspire their followers to physically look like the
new celebrity icon. People wanted to wear same clothes and accessories as worn by their

2. celebrity idols, which gave rise to increased demand and eventually, increased production
(Hamilton 2004). This helped the marketing society to take control of the economy.
Another example which lends evidence to the marked effects of consumer capitalism
on urban life is standard setting. As a result of excessive selling, standards have been set in
the societies which force people to buy more products as a means to show power and
financial stability. One example of this can be taken from the Asian culture where the amount
of money spent on a daughter’s marriage is seen as an index of financial health of her family,
as elaborated by Lindberg (2014). Dowry is also considered as a social indicator of parents’
love for their daughter (White, 2017). Capitalist marketers grab this opportunity and
glamorize dowry by showcasing it as a token of affection between parents and daughters
(White, 2017). As a result, parents are compelled to give luxurious dowry to their daughters,
notwithstanding their financial muscle. This tradition of giving expensive products in dowry
for face-saving, speaks volume about the influence of consumer capitalism on urban life.
Consumer capitalism has also changed the way social stratification worked. What
seemed to be the places reserved only for elite classes have now turned to be the amusement
places for the middle and lower classes as well; the reason being consumer capitalism. One
such example is of central park of New York. Central park was once an all upper class place
but when capitalism hit New York in the mid nineteens, the fee for entrance was so minimal
that even the lower middle class could afford it (Zukin, 1998). Major reasons behind this shift
are the rise in universal basic income and empowerment of women (Zukin, 1998). There were
specific meeting points for women and men which also increased the visiting population at
the central park. Altogether these reasons benefited the consumer capitalism as more people
were paying to visit public areas.

3. Another effect of consumer capitalism on urban life is the replacement of ‘one
breadwinner per family’ model with both heads of the family acting as the breadwinners
(Diepen and Musterd, 2009). Moreover, single people can easily live in separate or joint flats
and independence for women has become easier all because of consumer capitalism (Diepen
and Musterd, 2009). Consumer capitalism provides different residence structures and
possibilities which encourage people to take steps and do things they could not have done
before. For example, because consumer capitalism has provided people with more
opportunities and a vast variety of options in living styles, it is easier for a girl to rent a single
bedroom flat for herself. Modernism is a concept that also plays a role in this change in
urbanization. Due to the different developing beliefs and mottos like feminism, the mind-sets
of people have changed. Capitalist marketers have taken a great advantage of this paradigm
shift by providing different schemes and plans for previously marginalized communities
(Diepen and Musterd 2009). Development of pro- feminist policies, specifically, is a case in
point. When consumer capitalists produce products and services that particularly cater to the
women, the latter feel more liberated and empowered. Capitalism has now given women the
right to choose from what they want to wear; jeans, tops or dresses, and the way they want to
dress (Cole and Crossley 2009). On the other hand, capitalism has also exploited women
empowerment by emotionally harming them. For example, makeup is used as a means to
increase production and income rate as almost all ads of makeup products describe women
with the lighter skin tones as beautiful and attractive. This makes young girls extra conscious
about their looks, which facilittaes the production of more makeup products, to meet the
beauty standards (Grosskpof, 2017).
It is important to note that enhancing consumers demand to meet capitalists’ goals
goes back to the previous century (Jeacle 2004). At the beginning of twentieth century,
because of high demands of goods from consumers, big departmental stores were set up.

4. Gradually, these stores increased in internal departments, workforce, and a hierarchical
structure that consisted of the owner, departmental heads, cashiers and then the buyers
(Jeacle, 2004). This shopping centre phenomenon that attracts more customers for shopping
or even window shopping can be explained by Marx observation. The sociologist explained
that the reason of increased production rate is that the exchange value of an object is
increased. The exchange value in return becomes the direct object of production (Olivier,
2014). Similarly, Gruen, in his book-Shopping Towns USA: The Planning of Shopping
Centres (in King 2016), exclaimed that industrial revolution was making life in cities
intolerable, fuelling a desire to move to the suburbs of cities. To avoid this, shopping centres
were built as a distraction (King 2016). This underscores why shopping centres nowadays
have large architectural sites with huge banners and popping colours to attract customers to
the brands. The products displayed mostly have a high exchange value as compared to the use
value (King, 2016). Hence, this motivates customers to overlook the use value and focus on
the exchange value which results in the customers buying the product. Another tactic used by
consumer capitalists for increased shopping rates is the sale tactic. The products with high
exchange value are highlighted and made prominent to attract buyers. (Olivier 2014)
Nonetheless, the popping culture of shopping malls has many downsides. Olivier
(2014) argued that shopping malls provide an atmosphere of time waste and gathering to
roam around to pass time. Moreover, racism in clothing, gender and name calling have
become very common (Olivier, 2014).
All the above mentioned examples show that increased consumer capitalism had
brought quiet a lot of changes in the urban lifestyle. Before the wave of liberalization hit the
planet, there were several boundaries whose crossing was unacceptable. All thanks to the
liberals, capitalism acted as a means to demolish all the tight standards. The very first
standard to break loose was the class standard where the rich were allowed all sort of luxury.

5. The second change that capitalism boosted is feminism. Till now, consumer capitalism
leverages feminism to make changes in societies, in housing, at departmental stores and in
fashion. On the other hand, capitalism has enslaved women in the beauty conscious where
women buy more products to look like the latest beauty standards. The increased demand of
products has resulted in the spur of supermarkets, which although beneficial, yet also present
many challenges like increased racism and taunting. Hence, it can be concluded that though
consumer capitalism provides many benefits, yet it had brought complexity in the urban
lifestyle. Urban lifestyle has become a means to show off power, fame and money through all
means possible.

6. References
A. M., Diepen, V., & Musterd, S. (2009). Lifestyles and the city. Connecting Daily Life to
Urbanity, 24, 331-345. doi:DOI 10.1007/s10901-009-9150-4
Cole, N. L., & Crossley, A. D. (2009, December). On Feminism in the Age of Consumption.
Consumers, Commodities and Consumption, 11.
Grosskpof, M. (2017, August 11). Feminism as a Product of Capitalism and
Consumerism. Speakertv. Retrieved from
https://www.speakertv.com/education/feminism-product-capitalism-consumerism/
Hamilton, C. (2004). Consumer capitalism. Is This as Good as It Gets? pp. 1-16.
Jeacle, I. (2004). Emporium of glamour and sanctum of scientific management. The Early
Twentieth Century Department Store,42, 1162-1177.
King, E. (2016, January 27). The Rise and Fall of the American Shopping Mall. Broadly.
Retrieved from https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/ypa7jj/the-rise-and-fall
of-the-american-shopping mall
Lindberg, A., 2014. The Historical Roots of Dowries in Contemporary Kerala. South Asia J.
South Asian Stud. 37, pp. 22–42. Doi: 10.1080/00856401.2013.851017
Olivier, B. (2013, March 14). The shopping mall as consumer architecture. Mail and
Guardian. Retrieved from https://thoughtleader.co.za/bertolivier/2013/03/14/the
shopping-mall-as consumer-architecture/
White, S.C., 2017. Patriarchal Investments: Marriage, Dowry and the Political Economy of
Development in Bangladesh. J. Contemp. Asia 47, pp. 247–272. Doi:
10.1080/00472336.2016.1239271
Zukin, S. (1998). Urban lifestyles. Diversity and Standardisation in Spaces of
Consumption,35(5-6),825-839.