GEOG 217 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Colonial Life Arena, Global City, Economic Globalization
18 May 2018
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GEOG 217: March 1st, 2018
Post-Industrial Landscapes:
Outline:
- How to understand global urbanization
- What is a global city?
- Canada in the age of globalization and global cities
Maps:
- In 1890:
o The extent of urbanization is very limited
- In 1950:
o Still quite a lot of rural area
- In 1990:
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o Spread of urbanization (into areas that had only been rural before)
- For most of the population, urbanization is very contemporary and an ongoing process
- Trend of urbanization has affected more than just the physical organization of population,
but also social, political and economic life
Significance of Sheer Scale of Urban Population Growth:
- Differential incidence of urbanization in the world:
o The more developed regions exhibit high levels of urbanization
o The less developed regions are characterized by rapid urbanization that is expected
to continue for decades
- Note: Urban population growth correlates with overall population growth of countries
Question: Why has urbanization happened so quickly? Why has it spread across the globe?
- Main driver of urbanization over time is economic
- To consider…
o Mercantile Era (1790 – 1850):
o Early Industrial Capitalist: (1850 – 1900)
o Industrial Capitalism (1900 – 1945):
o Mature Industrial Capitalism (MIC) (1945 - ):
▪ This era has driven urbanization across the globe
▪ Also known as post-Fordist or post-industrial capitalism
• In other words, less skilled labour
▪ Characteristics:
• Manufacturing decline worldwide:
o In 1995 there were 172 million manufacturing jobs, but by
2005 this had declined to 150 million
o Less demand for manufactured goods and technology made
the production of manufactured goods more productive
• The Global Shift:
o The movement of industrial employment from the cities of
the developed world to those of the developing world
o Redistribution of manufacturing jobs
▪ Asia absorbing most of these jobs (but occurring shift
away now as Asian economies become more robust,
wages rise, etc.)
• In other words, new international division of labour:
o Developing countries: Concentration of mass labour tasks
o Developed countries: Concentration of management,
organization and design work
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• In the old division of labour, the periphery generated natural
resources, and the colonial center produced and consumed locally,
but also exported them
o MIC coincides with massive decolonization
o Sum:
▪ High level of urban development in core economies by 1950
▪ Since 1950, massive urban growth has occurred throughout most of the rest
of the world (so much so that cities can be considered part of the global
space)
▪ Urbanization became a global phenomenon in the last half century as a
consequence of deep-seated and far-reaching changes in the structure and
spatial relations of capitalism in the era of economic globalization
The Global City:
- The study of the relationship between globalization and urbanization is a key topic within
contemporary urban studies
o This is not to sa that eternal fators haven’t affeted ities efore
- Examination of how a globalized economy has fundamentally altered cities
- Note: Early accounts of globalization and urbanization believed that geography (space) would no
longer matter
o The alienation of space with time
o Time-space compression argues that social, political and economic processes operate
within a global scale
o Idea was that working within a global scale would mean that space would stop
mattering
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Document Summary
Canada in the age of globalization and global cities. In 1890: the extent of urbanization is very limited. In 1950: still quite a lot of rural area. In 1990: spread of urbanization (into areas that had only been rural before) For most of the population, urbanization is very contemporary and an ongoing process. Trend of urbanization has affected more than just the physical organization of population, but also social, political and economic life. Significance of sheer scale of urban population growth: Differential incidence of urbanization in the world: the more developed regions exhibit high levels of urbanization, the less developed regions are characterized by rapid urbanization that is expected to continue for decades. Note: urban population growth correlates with overall population growth of countries. Main driver of urbanization over time is economic. To consider : mercantile era (1790 1850), early industrial capitalist: (1850 1900)
