Question

(1) Explain the Political Economy Approach to Urban Economics. What are its main contributions to the existing studies on the field of urban economics. What are its differences from the mainstream urban economics? Throughout your essay, refer to the changes in political, economic and cultural conditions that led to the transformation of cities – as they are the very basis for different urban economics approaches.

Answer 1

The study of political economy emphasizes the the role of capital in politics and policy making.Urban political economy focuses especially on the relationship between the "local state" (urban and suburban governments) and capitals,both local and global.However,this relationship does not exist in a local vacuum; behavior of cities,states,and other nations as well as the actions of national and international capital have profound impacts on this relationship. Political economy generally refers to the scholarly paradigm that examines how material processes of production and exchange shapes and are shaped by decisions made in economic and political institutions;with "urban" ,this concern centers around material production of and within cities.    Since the 1980s,urban political economy has developed in large part as a response to the dramatic shifts in economies,politics,population,and settlement associated with urban restructuring. This concept has pushed urban economists to identify what is qualitatively new and significant about capitalism's transformation of the city. For example- the globalization of traditional American industry, on the one hansmerely demonstrates at a large scale structure dynamics that spurred the growth of American Sunbelt decades earlier:industrial capital 'a vulnerability to site specific labor costs and labor control,and its benefits from geographically uneven development. On the other hand,the technical and organizational innovations that made globalization possible have generated unanticipated economic, spatial, and social outcomes.