City-regions reconsidered

Allen Scott

Environment and Planning A, 2019, vol. 51, issue 3, 554-580

Abstract: I seek to provide an overview of the historical and geographical emergence of city-regions and to reflect on some of the debates that have arisen in regard to the theoretical status of these phenomena. I briefly describe the growth and spread of city-regions in the world since the mid-1950s and I consider how contemporary capitalism and globalization have fostered the development of this distinctive urban form. The internal organization of city-regions is then examined, with special reference to four generic outcomes: (1) aestheticized land-use intensification; (2) gentrification; (3) social polarization and informality; and (4) postsuburban landscapes. Issues of governance and policy are scrutinized and basic dilemmas of political coordination in city-regions are described. The argument ends with an evaluative review of certain critiques of the city-region idea in the current academic literature.

Keywords: City-regions; cognitive-cultural capitalism; globalization; theory of urbanization; urban governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:51:y:2019:i:3:p:554-580

DOI: 10.1177/0308518X19831591

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