The Role Of Capitalism In The Urban Environment

Capitalism and the urban environment
Capitalism plays a direct role in shaping the urban environment and the city. The geography of the city is not formed by natural forces. But rather, it is the result of the power of capitalism, through creating markets and controlling the workforce.
Capitalist corporations have a consistent need for new markets and more advantageous locations. They are always on the lookout for lower labor costs, weaker unionization and tax concessions. The state plays a major role in influencing these corporations’ choice as well as shaping the urban environment. Harvey gives the example of the post-war expansion of suburbia and how the state has influenced it by taking many measures such as tax relief for home-owners

These cities are important centers which dominate the urban world and the global economy. They are significant because key personnel and activates are located within them and they not necessarily because of their economic status or population size. To show how important they are; ten of these cities host the headquarters of nearly half of the world’s largest 500 transnational manufacturing corporations. According to Clark (1996) these cities are the result of three reasons. The first one is the growth in the number and range of institutions of global capital. The second reason is the geographical concentration of capital. And the third reason is the extension of global reach via telecommunications and transport. Examples of global cities are London and Tokyo. Even though the UK has a relatively small manufacturing sector, London is considered a global city. This is because it is the prime center and supplier of financial services to global markets. It also has the second largest stock exchange in the whole world. But Tokyo’s global status is duo to it research led, government-protected microelectronics industry, its first-rate flexible production methods and the commercial center. The latter is built through the capital accumulated and exported to the rest of Asia and the

The First notable way is how culture acts as branding for the city associating it with different goods or services. To give some Moroccan examples; Ouarzazate is famous for the film industry, Beni Mellal is known for olive oil The other big way cities use culture for economic purposes is through cultural industries. The latter, also known as creative industries, emerged, in the late 1990, as a strategy to encourage using culture to generate economic growth. The term ‘creative industries’ was first coined in the UK in 1997 by the Labor Government. It has quickly spread all over Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. The UK Government’s ‘Creative Industries Task Force’ defines it saying: the creative industries as those industries which have their origins in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property (Department of Culture, Media and Sport,