Economy and development in modern cities

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the roles of energy and strategies for capital accumulation as the primary determinants of urban development. The essay begins with a brief survey of the city in history: ranging from the mercantile trading city, characterized by craft production, to the rise of the industrial city with its large-scale industrial production, to the corporate city based on the service sector, paying special attention to the role of energy surpluses in transforming work processes and expanding economic surpluses. The chapter ends with a discussion of Third World cities, especially megacities, and their role origins in the globalization process, as well as a reflection on the possibility of sustainable cities in the future.