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7/23/2019 Cities and State Geohistory
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Cities and states in geohistoryAuthor(s): Edward W. SojaSource: Theory and Society, Vol. 39, No. 3/4, Special Issue in Memory of Charles Tilly (1929–
2008): Cities, States, Trust, and Rule (May 2010), pp. 361-376Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40587540Accessed: 25-12-2015 02:13 UTC
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7/23/2019 Cities and State Geohistory
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Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
DOI 10.1007/s
11
86-0
1
-9 113-5
Citiesand states n geohistory
Edward W.
Soja
Published nline: March 010
©
The
Author(s)
010. This article s
published
ith
pen
access
at
Springerlink.com
Abstract
n
his last
major
work,
harles
Tillypresents
schematic
istory
f the
development
f
cities, tates,
nd
trust etworks ver the
past
five millennia.
reconfigure
is look across
history
rom more
assertivelypatialperspective,
pushing
ack he
tarting
oint
f
he
eohistory
fcities nother
,000
years
o
what
s
presented
s the
first f three urban evolutions. rom his
eohistoricaliewpoint,
cities nd tates
o not
mergeogether
e novo
n
Sumeria ut he tates seen s
being
generated
rom arlier rbanization
rocesses
rwhat an be
described
s the
timulus
ofurban
gglomeration.
he
generative
ower
fcities rurban
patial
ausality,arely
addressed
n the ocial science
iterature,
s
being
re-discovered
oday
s a
primary
source f ocietal
evelopment,echnological
nnovation,
ndcultural
reativity.
n
my
schematic
eohistory,
he timulusfurban
gglomeration
s traced ver
10,000
years
from
ts
arly
ole
n
he
evelopment
ffull-scale
griculture
nd he emarkablertistic
creativitymanating
rom
atalhöyük,
he
argest
f the earliest rban
ettlements;
through
heformationf
politicallyharged ity-states
nd
city-basedmpires;
o the
city-generated
ndustrial evolution nd the
origins
f urban ndustrial
apitalism;
ending
n
a look
at the
ontemporary
econfiguration
f
cities
nd states nd the hift
frommetropolitanoregionalrbanization.
To
begin
his ast
major
work,
ities nd States n World
istory,
harles
illy
akes
the reader
back
nearly
,000
years
to the
thrivingity-state
f
Uruk,
near the
confluencef
the
Tigris
nd
Euphrates
ivers. t that
ime,
Uruk
was
already
well
established s one
of the first
ully
ormed
ity-states
nd
probably
he world's
largest
rban
gglomeration
s
well,
with
50,000
people living
within ts walls.
Uruk's
uler
uring art
f
this
ra was
the
great ingGilgamesh
nd
Tilly
uses the
clay
tablet nscribed
ilgamesh pic
to
open up
his own
look
across
history.
Sketchingnd schematizinguriously,s he describedt,Tilly presents highly
E. W.
Soja
{M)
Department
f Urban
lanning,
chool
of Public
Affairs,
niversity
f
California-Los
ngeles,
Los
Angeles,
A,
USA
e-mail:
soja@ucla.edu
Ô
Springer
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7/23/2019 Cities and State Geohistory
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362
Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
personalized
verview f the
development
f
cities,
tates,
nd
trust etworksver
the
past
five
millennia,
ince
whathe and most
xperts
onsider o have been the
original
moment f
city
nd state ormation.
Spatializing illy
What
propose
o do
here,
lso
sketching
nd
chematizing
nergetically,
s
add
a
more
assertivend
explanatorypatial
erspective
o the
story illy
ells,
o look at the
intertwined
evelopment
f cities nd states cross
eohistory.
his
nfrequently
sed
term,
eohistory,epresents
uchmore han
dding
n extra
ose of
geography
o the
writing
f
history
r
simply ecognizing
hat
space
matters. s
I
see
it,
geohistory
s
indicativef
a
radically
ifferent
ay
of
looking
t
history
nd
geographyogether,
treating
hem s
mutually
ormativend
co-equal
n their
nterpretiveower. Soja
1
89)
Such
a
balanced iew runs
gainst
he
prevailing rain
f
a
powerful
ocial
historicism
hat,
ince t east hemid-nineteenth
entury,
as
intellectuallyrioritized
time ver
pace
nd
nterpretivelyrivileged
hehistorical
nd
ociologicalmagination
over
geographical
r
spatial erspectives. y
aim
n
spatializingilly's
ook across
history
s to buildon a
critique
f this
ocial historicismo
enrich
is
fundamental
arguments
nd,
more
mbitiously,
o
open
up potentially
ew and
nnovativevenues
for
nvestigating
ities, tates,
nd their
oordinativeetworksf
trust.
The need for uch
spatialization
f
even thebesthistorical
ritings
risesfrom
what an be describeds theGreatOntological istortionhat ookplace nWestern
scholarship
n
the asthalf fthe
nineteenth
entury.
lmost
ntirely
nnoticed
n
the
mainstreamiterature as an
intellectual ixation n
temporal
nd historical
perspectives
hatwould
nject
socio-historicalias into he
then
merging
ocial
sciences as well as into Marx's historical
materialism.
oregrounding
istorical
interpretations
f
social
relations,
ocial
will,
and
societal
development,
hile
decidedly nsightful,
ssentially
ubordinated
pace
to
time,
eography
o
history,
creating
n
ontological
redisposition
hat
would
arry
ver o affect
pistemological
debate,
heory
ormation,
nd
empirical nalysis
n
all
thehuman
ciences.Cities
and
states,
or
example,
ame to be studied
iterally
nd
figuratively
through
history hiletheir eographyr spatiality as reduced o a neutral ackground
environment,
container
f social life and
history, stage
for
a
social drama
unfoldingrimarily
cross ime nd
only ncidentally
cross
place
and
space.1
One of
the few to
recognize
his
ontological
istortion as Michel
Foucault
(1986),
who
quizzically
sked
why
s
it
thatwe
have come to
think
f time s
dynamic,rocess,
movement,
evelopment,
ialectic hile
pace
tends o be
seen s
fixed,
ead,
extra-social
ackground,
r
environment.id it start ith
Bergson,
e
ponders,
urious s to how such
peculiar
mbalance ouldhave
developed
etween
time nd
space,
seemingly o-equal
dimensions f both
the
physical
nd
social
worlds.
Expecting
his social
historicismo be
easily recognized
nd
repaired,
Foucaultwouldmove on to demonstratenpractice morebalanced ndmutually
causal
spatio-temporal
r
geohistorical
erspective
n
his
major
writings.nly
n
the
past
10
years,
owever,
as
this
e-balancing
f
historicalnd
geographical
hinking
1
For more n
this
ntological
istoricism,
ee
Edward
oja
1989, 1996,
2000.
Ô
Springer
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7/23/2019 Cities and State Geohistory
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Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376 363
begun
o occur
hrough
hat ome have
been
calling spatial
urn
n the
human
sciences,
s
nearly verydiscipline
nd
subject
rea has been
experiencing
ome
degree
f
provocative
patialization
Warf
nd Arias
2009).
Geohistorys it is used herecarrieswith t an ontological e-balancingf the
social,
he
historical,
nd the
patial,
with o one
of them
iven riority
r
privilege
over
theothers. iven he
persistence
f social
historicism,owever,
compensa-
tory mphasis
n critical
patial hinking
ill
need,
t east
emporarily,
o be
given
primary
ttention
o matter hatthe
subjectmay
be. What follows hen s the
product
f
a
strategicoregrounding
f a
spatial erspective,xploring
ow
t
might
add
new
nsights
nto he
tudy
f cities nd states.
At the core of this
ook across
geohistory
s
an
emphasis
n urban
spatial
causality,
ow
cities
s
spatially rganized
ocial formations
ctively hape
social
relations
nd
help
to stimulateocietal
development.ityspace
n
this ense
s
not
just
a
place
in which ocial life unfolds nd
major
events ccur but is also an
affectivend
consequential
ontext. romwhat
an be described
s the timulus
f
urban
gglomeration
manates
generative
orce
hathas
played powerful
ut
almost
ntirely
nnoticed ole
n
societal
evelopment
s a source
f
accumulation,
innovation,oercion,
ierarchy,
nd cultural
reativity.
aneJacobs
n
The
Economy
of
Cities
1969)
was
among
hefirstcholars o
recognize
he
generative
ffects
f
urban
gglomeration
nd her work s used hereto
begin
our
revised
ook at the
geohistory
f cities nd states.2
Pushing
back the
origin
f cities
Tilly's
look
across
history
s rich
with
nsights,
specially
with
regard
o the
conceptualization
f trust
etworkss
integrative
echanisms
olding ogether
he
intertwined
volution f cities
nd states. n his creative
xcursion,
owever,
e
is
occasionally
ed
astray y
the
fundamentally
istoricist
ritings
f
others,
nd
despite
his
unusually
fertile
eographical magination
by
his own intrinsic
privileging
f
time
over
space, history
ver
geography,specially
n
the
realm f
social
causality.
he subordinationf urban
patial
ausality
n
Tilly's nterpretation
ofthedevelopmentf cities nd states eginswith hedebate n urban rigins.
Rather han
beginning
ith
he
thrivingity-state
f
Uruk
and the
Gilgamesh
epic,
the
tory
f urban
eohistory
eeds to be taken ack another
,000
years
r
more
o
Catalhöyük
nd ts ven
more ncient
redecessors.3
ollowing
aneJacobs
(1969)
ratherhan ewis
Mumford
1961),
it can be
argued
hat he
world's arliest
urban ettlements
ook
place
n
the
highland
elt
runninghrough
outhern natolia
to
present
ay
Iran and south ntothe Levantrather
han n
the
so-calledFertile
2
The
Economyof
Cities has
inspired growing
field
of
geographical
conomics
dealing
with
urbanization
conomies,
he
positive
nd
negative
ffectshat risefrom rban
gglomeration.
acobs
argued
hatwithout
ities,
we would ll be
poor,
we wouldhave remained untersnd
gatherers
s we
were
hroughoutearly
ll ofhuman xistence. ome economics extbooks
see
McDonald
1997)
nowcall
these ffectsJane acobs
xternalitiesnd
argue
hat uchurbanizationconomies
re now the
primary
force ehind conomic
evelopment
nd
technological
nnovation
n theworld.
3
This lternativeiew
of the
rigin
nd
geohistorical
volution f cities
s
developed
n
detail
n thefirst
three
hapters
f
Soja
(2000).
4y
Springer
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364
Theor
oc
(2010)
39:361-376
Crescent
f alluvial
Mesopotamia.
illy
efers
o
Chatal
Hoyuk,
nd also the ven
older
Jericho,
utbows
to the anonical iterature
n
dismissing
hese ettlements
s
not
yet full-fledged
ities,
wing
o
a
lack
of
central
uthority,igns
f
nequality
andhierarchy,nd an elaborated ivision f abor, otto mentionn alphabet,he
key
to what he ime-mindedall
written
istory
nd
city-based
civilization.
The
debate boutwhether
atalhöyük
ndJericho ere
ruly
ities s
entangled
n
a kind f Catch-22
hat
rings
nto
uestion early
ll
existing
istoriesfthe
rigins
of cities nd
states,
ncluding illy's.
So fixateds the iteraturen the Sumerian
city-states
uch as Uruk nd Ur
that he
definitionf
a
city
becomes
confusingly
conflated
ith hedefinitionfthe tate. hat
s,
f
settlementoes not
xpress
he
key
features f a centralizednd hierarchical
tate,
hen
t
cannot e
a
true
ity.
Adding
to the
confusion,
arge-scale griculturalevelopment
s thrown
n
as
essential
o theformationfboth ities nd
states,
ith ities s wellas states een s
evolving
rom
xpansive griculturalillages hrough
n
increasing
ocial division
of labor.
That
cities s
permanent
nd
generative
rban
gglomerations
an form
withouttates s
generally
uled
ut,
s is theeven more udacious
possibility
hat
urbanization
receded
and stimulatedfull cale
agricultural
evelopment.
The
deeply
heldbelief
hat he
production
f a social
surplus,
rimarily
n
food,
was
essential
o
the
formationf citieswas turned
pside
down
by
JaneJacobs
n
The
Economy f
Cities.
Building
n excavations
t
Catalhöyük
n
the ate 1960s
(knowledge
navailable o Mumford hen
writing
he
City
n
History),
he claimed
that ities ame
first,
efore he
Agricultural
evolution,
mplying
hat itieswere
essential o theproductionf a socialsurplus atherhan heotherwayaround. he
argued,
o theridicule nd dismissal f most
rehistorians
nd
paleoanthropologists,
that
hefirstubstantialuman ettlementsere tateless ities ormed
y egalitarian
bands of hunters
nd
gatherers
ell before he
development
f
full-fledged
agrarian
ocieties.
They
were,
in
essence,
Neolithic
ities,
an
impossible
nd
contradictoryhenomenon
o most cholars f
antiquity.
Cities lmost
urely
id not
precede
hedomesticationf
plants
nd animals nd
therewere
people
who knewhow to farm
n
the first ities.But what s
clearly
suggested
rom
ontemporary
rcheological
vidence
nd
the
logic
of distance-
minimizing
uman
patial
ehaviors that rbanizationnd
agriculturalevelopment
evolved ogetherna mutuallyausal andsymbioticelationship.hecreationf an
agriculturalurplus layed key
role
n
stimulating
he
development
f
cities,
ut
just
as
important
and
often verlooked
ntirely),
rbanization
layed
a
generative
role n the
Agricultural
evolution.
nderstanding
hismutual
ausality,
hich,
s
we will
see,
can also be
applied
o the
development
f the
state,
uilds
upon
the
recognition
hat
the first rue cities were formed round
12,000
years
ago
in
Southwest sia andthat his
pochal
ommitmento
iving ensely
nd
permanently
together
n
one
place
rather
han
maintainingroving
omadic xistencemarked
kind f
big bang
n
the
development
f human ocieties.
Once humans ecide o settle
n
one
place,
s one ofthe xcavators fJericho
ut
it Kenyon1960),all else follows: hegeohistoryfsocietaldevelopmentegins.
The
settling
own nto
ermanent
rban lusters as
perhaps
hemost
evolutionary
event n the
history
f human
ociety, ollowing
fter t
least
2,000,000
years
of
existence s smallnomadic andsof fewer han
hundred embers. lmost
urely,
thesefirst ities ould never
row
o muchmore han
10,000 nhabitants,
utthis
4y
Springer
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Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
365
was an
explosive
eap
n
societal cale and
complexity.
nvironmentalactors
layed
an
important
ole
in these
changes,
s a
period
of
global warming
melted
ack
continental
cecaps
and
encouraged
he intensification
f traditional
unting,
gathering,ndfishingechnologiesnthewell wateredone from heMediterranean
to southernhina.
Permanentrban
ettlement,owever,
s better
nderstoodot s
environmentally
nduced ut s
a
rational
nd
specificallypatial
hoice.
While
knowledge
f
farming
xisted
there s evidence f
plant
domestication
going
back
18,000
years
the
vast
majority
f inhabitantsf the first ities
were
huntersnd
gatherers.
here s no clearevidence f
early griculturalillages
hat
somehow
rew
nto
cities.
ndeed,
he dea
that
easonable
eople
would cluster
together
n
permanent
wellings
o farm oes not make
sense,
especially
when
defense
gainst
utsiders
as not factor.
f
anything,
hereversewas more
ikely,
that rban
gglomeration
ed to the
pawning
ff f
thefirst
griculturalillages
nd
small settlementsf livestock
eepers, nitially
o serve the needsof the urban
population
lthough
ater
eeking reaterutonomy
s
a
rural
easantry
ndnomadic
pastoralists.
So
what ed hundredsnd
in
some
cases thousands f
people
to
create he first
permanent
rban ettlements?
ot
farming
r
rearing
ivestock
which
were
possible
to
practice
2,000
years go),
nor
hunting
nd
gathering,
uttrade nd
exchange,
probably
hrough
ome
meansof
reciprocity.
here s evidence hat
ong-distance
trade xisted
n
Southwest
sia and
the asternMediterranean
5,000
years go
and
may
have created ncient
rade outes hatwould ater
volve nto hefamous ilk
RoadTillywritesbout, tretchingcrossEurasia oconnect ith nother ellspring
of urbanization
n
the oess
plains
nd river
alleys
f northernhina.
Trade hen
was the
primary
rbanizing
orce,
specially
n
theNeolithic
r New
Stone
Age,
when the
main
commodity
as workable tones
such as
flint
nd
obsidian,
he volcanic
glass
thatwas most
closely
ssociatedwith he
growth
f
Catalhöyük.
hoosing
n actual ite
probably
as influenced
y
natural
actorsuch
as the
availability
f water
upplies, ncluding
akes
and marsheswith bundant
wildlife,
ut
gatheringogether
housands f
inhabitants as
mainly logical
and
efficient
esponse
o the
rade f
heavy oods, specially
n
comparison
o
delivering
them o scattered
omadic
ncampments.
his also meant
hat herewere
probably
manymallerradingenterslong hemain outes. rom he tarthen, rbanization
probably
ook the
form f a network f settlements
f various izes
rather han
isolated
nd nsulated
ities.4
Catalhöyük, erhaps
he
major metropolis
f the
Neolithic,
asted for
nearly
2,000
years,
hifting
bouton two mounds
nd
probably
ising
nd
falling
n
size
before
eing
bandoned.ts
generativeower
was
impressive,
eading
o
expanding
agricultural
evelopment,
nnovativerchitecturendurban
esign,
form f
highly
egalitarian
nd
family
ased
religion,
nd
the
greatest
urst f artistic
reativity
n
human
eohistory
p
to that ime. he most
rilliantf earlier ave
paintings
lmost
alwaysrepresented
unting
cenesor elaborate
eometricatterns.
few
wood or
4
Whether
orms f
dentity
nd trust oincided
with
hese
rban etworks e
may
never
now,
lthough
the
galitarian
haracter
f thefirst ities
uggests strong
amily
ocus
nd household
utonomy
ather
than
large
cale
community
dentity.
Ô
Springer
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366 Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
stone
culptures
f what re
thought
o be
fertilityoddesses
have been
found,
ut
what
happened
n
Catalhöyük
as
extraordinary.
Hundreds f
goddess-likeculptures
ere
produced possibly
timulated
y
the
gradual hift rom untingoagriculture),etal ncluding opperwas worked nto
elaborate
esigns,
he first nown extiles nd
rugs
were
woven,
bsidianwas cut
and
polished
nto
hefirst and-crafted
irrors,
nd beautifulmuralswere
painted,
including
ne that lmost
surely
s the first
nown
example
of
a
cityscape,
depiction
f dozens of houses
spreading
ut
in
front f a distant
win-peaked
volcano
seeminglyrupting
ith he nvaluable bsidian he
city
depended
pon.
Here thenwas abundant vidence
f
the transformationf nature nto socialized
cityspace,epresenting
he cooked atherhan he raw
n
Levi-
trauss
s
terms.
n
the
previous
,000,000
years
of homo
sapiens
existence,
here
was
nothing
o
compare
with
heurban
enerated
rtisticnd
cultural evolutionhat ook
place
in
and fromhis emarkablenatolian
ity.
Emerging olities:
he
city
nd the state
combined
Derivedfrom his
radically
evised iew of societal
development
s the dea that
cities
and
the urbanization
rocess
have
provided
perhaps
he most
important
generative
orce ehind
verymajorbreakthrough
n
human
geohistory,
rom he
agricultural
o the ndustrialevolutionso
major
bursts f artistic
reativity
nd
technologicalnnovation. romabout8,000 to 5,000years ago, the stimulus f
urban
agglomeration
lso
played
a
key
role
in
the formationf
the state and
centralized
uthority,
he
emergence
f hierarchiesf
differentialocial
power,
he
rooting
fthis
hierarchy
f
power
n
gender,
inship
nd cultural
ies,
nd the iseof
class divisions ased
largely
n
the
ownership
f
property.
o
closely
tied were
urban
development
nd stateformationhatwhat
emerged
uring
his
period
s
calledthe
ity-state
r,
from he
Greek,
he
polis,
which omedictionariesefine s
meaning
ither
ity
r
state.
Recent xcavations
n
Anatolia s well as northern
yria
nd
raq suggest
hat he
earliest
tateless r
acephalous
ities
volved ver housands f
years
nto he
city-
based statesof Mesopotamia nd probably lso the Nile and IndusValleys.
Catalhöyük
ad no formidable alls around t
and therewas no evidence f
any
political
or
religious
entrality
ithin
he settlement. ouseholds
were
roughly
similar,
ith
ew hared
walls so that
ne
family
ouldremain
n
the amehome ite
for
many enerations,
ach one buried
top
the
others.
Hodder 006)
After round
8,000
BP, however,
efore he
flowering
f the
Mesopotamianity-states,
vidence
of
walled settlementsas been found
howing igns
of
increasingly
entralized
authority
nd
growing
ierarchy,
ith ome
buildings
much
arger
han
thers nd
withurban
paces possibly
devoted
o
ceremony
nd/or
xchange.
nterestingly
enough,
o evidencewas found t these ites
f written
anguage.
What his uggests,s noted arlier,s that rbanizationndstate ormationrew
togetherymbiotically,
ery
much ike the
mutually timulating
evelopment
f
cities nd
agriculture
hatwas also
continuing
o
occur
n
thenew
environmentsf
the
great
iver
alleys
f Eurasia nd northern
frica. hat tate ormationnd
arge
scale
rrigatedgriculture
nfluencedrban
evelopment
s not new
dea,
but here
4y
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367
is
very
ittlewrittenhat
mphasizes
n at least n
equal
basis
that
ities
enerated
statesand
all their
ppurtenances,
rom entralized
oyal
nd
religious
uthority
(with
the
skyscraping
iggurat
ts
synecdoche),
lass
stratification,
xpanding
patriarchalower,militaryorce,ndempire-buildingmpulses. he statewas not
only
eflected
n thebuilt nvironment
nd social
geography
f the
ity,
t
emerged
from
he urban
ontext r
habitat.
t
truly
was
a
city-generated-state
r,
ust
as
descriptive,
state-generated-city.
o makeone
generativerocess
more
mportant
than he
other,
r to see either
s
developing eparately,
s to distort hat
happened.
To be
clear,
am not
claiming
hat
rbanization
xplains
ll
aspects
f societal
development
r
state
formation,
lthough
am
purposefullymphasizing
he
importance
furban
patial
ausalityargely
ecause
thas
been
virtually
nvisible
n
the
existing
iterature
nd,
in
particular,
n the
writings
f historians
nd social
scientistsn
states ndcities.
hope
hat t east
glimmer
fthese deas
was behind
Tilly's
frequent
hallenges
o urban istorianso findmore
xciting
nd
nteresting
things
o
say
about ities
han
imply
hronicling
vents,
ut
cannot e sure.Just s
it
s
widely
ssumed
hat he
gricultural
evolution
receded
nd ed to
the
rise
of
the
first
ities,
o too
do the
majority
f scholars
ee state
ormation
and
written
language)
s
pre-requisites
or he
growth
f true ities.
As
I
havebeen
arguing,
he
reverse s
muchmore
ikely,
withurbanization
receding
nd
leading
o
(or
co-
evolving
with)
the transformative
rocesses
ssociatedwiththe
rise of
agrarian
societies
nd the
formationf
the entralized
tate.
The stimulus
f urban
gglomeration
egan
to have
an effect
2,000
years go,
reachedn early eak nCatalhöyük,nd wouldexplode gain nSumeriawith he
formation
f
city-states,
hich
would
subsequentlypread
or be
independently
invented
n
many
ifferent
egions
round heworld.
illy icksup
the
tory
n
Uruk
and
the
Gilgamesh
pic.
While
he is almost
urely
orrect
n
stating
hat no states
existed
nywhere
n
the world
before
,000
BCE or
6,000-plus
ears go,
he is
almost
urely
wrong
n
accepting
he
rgument
hat ities
irst
ppeared
n
the
ame
periods
nd
places
as
states,
s
depicted
n
a canonical
nd historicistiterature
hat
muddles
ogether
hedefinitions
f
city,
tate,
nd evenmore
urocentrically
iased,
civilization.
For
hemost
art,
illy
voids
his efinitional
onfounding
n
his
commentary
n
the ambiguous nd variablerelations etween ities and states s distinctive
entities,
ut
he
develops
typology
nd
a mainhistorical
rend
see
Figure
1 in
Tilly's
article
n this
ssue)
that onfusesmore
han larifies heserelations.
he
trend
ine
expresses
hefamiliar
dea that he
worldhas movedfrom
timewhen
citiesdominated
o a timecloser
to
today
when centralizedtates
became more
powerful
han ities.There
may
ndeed
be a trend oward
ncreasing
tate
versus
urban
power,
ut
the coordinates
f
Tilly's
diagram
onfound
ow thistrend
s
framednd
nterpreted.
In the
upper
eft orner f
the
diagram
s the autonomous
ity,
remarkably
empty
ut
seemingly
riginating
ategory
hat
Tilly awkwardly
xemplifies
n
contemporaryongKongandtheVatican,utnotSingapore, hich smore ike he
(non-autonomous?)
city-state
ppearing
t themore
integrated
pper ight
and
corner.
The
city-state
epresents
n
extreme
f urban
dominance,
while the
centralized
tate
China
is described
s a formidable
xample)
s
planted
t the
other
ower
ight
nd
culminating
xtreme,
hen tates
weredominant.
eft ver
n
4y
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368 Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
the ower eft orner
states
dominant ut
segregated
ather
han
ntegrated)
re
nomadic
mpires.
What s buriedunder hisAutonomous
ities,
City-States,
entralized
tates,
NomadicEmpires lassifications the constant enerative orce of cities,the
possibility
hatall
human societies
have
been urbanized ocietiesfor the
past
12,000
years.
First f
all,
no cities re ever
autonomous,
rom
ature,
rom tate
power
when t
exists,
r from etworks f trust.
urthermore,
ity-states
re also
centralizedtates.
heymay
not
be
nation-states,
ut his s another
tory.
ndwhile
nomadic
mpiresmay
be less urbanized nd centralizedhan ther
mpires,
ew
f
any
re
entirely
isconnectedrom
mportant
ities nd their
enerative
ffects.
es,
nation-statesave become more
powerful
astions f coercion nd social control
than
ity-states,
ut
they
have
always
ruled
hrough
ities nd the
ccumulationf
nationalwealth
has
always hingedprimarily
but never
exclusively
on the
stimulus f urban
gglomeration.
Tilly's diagram
nd
discussion
f
the rise of national tate
power,
arlier
n
Europe
than
elsewhere,
eflects nd
reinforceshe conventionalocial
historicist
viewthat as ed to the
ubmergence
f
urban
patial ausality
ndthe
privileging
f
socio-historical
rocesses
s
opposed
to a more
balanced
ocio-spatial
nd
spatio-
temporal
ialectic.After
Westphalia,
he
story oes,
citiesbecome ess
important
whilethe
state
grows
n
social
power, eading
oo
easily
to the
dea thatwith he
formationf the
nation-statecholars an henceforth
orget
bout urban
patial
causality,
he
generativeower
f
cities,
ndurbanizations the
driving
orce ehind
economicdevelopment.ities were mummifiedn Western ocial and political
theory,specially
s
causal factors
with
few
xceptions,
uch s theold
Chicago
School).
Things appen
n
cities utnot
becauseof cities. ven the
urban
n
urban
industrial
apitalism, art
of another
major city-generated
evolution,
isappears
from iew and hencefrom
ystematic
nalysis
n
socialist
heory.
he existence f
the national
tate s a
fundamentallypatial
or territorialorm lso
tends o be
forgotten
s states ecome bstractedrom
ities nd the
urbanization
rocess.
There s much more to
be
explored
n
the co-evolution f
cities and states
between
,000
and 300
BP,
theonset f the ndustrial
evolutionnd theriseof new
urbanization
rocesses,
ut focus
briefly
ere
ust
on
the
concept
f
politics.
As
therewas no evidence f anorganized olity r centralizeduthority,tcan be said
that herewas no
true
olitics
n
theearliest
ities,
lthough
ome
degree
f
social
regulation
was needed and
probably
xisted to maintain
permanent
rban
settlement,
ven
f
only
derived rom
gender
r
nter-householdivision f abor.
Almost
y
definition,owever,
e
can
claim that
olitics
merges
n
conjunction
with
heformation
f the
ity-state.
In
his
provocative enealogy
f
the
concept
f
citizenship,
ngin
sin
(2002)
rootshis
analysis
f
beingpolitical
n
theurbanization
rocess,
n
the
generative
forces hat rise
from he
ocio-spatialgglomeration
r
clusteringogether
f urban
communities.5
ollowing
Aristotle,
sin
argues
hat
politics
re
essentially
rban
5
I
have used the erm
ynekism
o
refer o the timulus f urban
gglomeration,
orrowing
t
from he
Greek
ynoikismos
s used
by
Aristotlend
Thucydides
o
describe heformationf
the
ity-state.
Soja
2000)
Synoikismos
efers o social
groups oming ogether
o
live
nterdependently
n
one home
pace,
oikos
meaning
home,
the root
of economics nd
ecology
as well as
ekistics,
he
study
f
human
settlements.t also means o
wed,
o live
nterdependentlyogether.
4y
Springer
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Theor
oc
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369
generated,
ntrinsico
the
ity-state
x
olis,
and
reflective
f
deepeningnequality
f
power
ndwealth.Without senseofurban
patial ausality,
his
rgument
ecomes
incomprehensible
nd almost
mpossible
o understandnd
accept.
Yet it s a vital
part f whatwashappeningn the astern orderlandsf theMediterraneantarting
8,000
years ago,
as
peaceful
nd
egalitarian
tateless ities
became
politically
charged ity-states.
This
mutually
ormativeelation
mong
ities, tates,
nd
politics
s blurred
nd
fractured
n
most
fthe iterature
haped y
social
historicism,
hich ends o avoid
any
hint f urban
patial ausality.
he
connections,
owever,
re
clearly xpressed
in
anguage
nd oururban-related
ocabulary.
he
city-state
r
polis gives
us
policy,
polite,
olice, olity,
nd,
f
course,
olitics;
while heLatin ivitas s linked o
civil,
civic, itizen,
ivilization,
nd
city.
he Greekword
o
distinguish
heurban weller
fromhebarbarianutsider r rural dioteshenceMarx's amentbout he idiocy
of rural
ife)
s
polites,
term edolent f the
ink
between
eing
urban nd
being
political.
Although
twould
require great
eal more esearchhan as beendone
or that
can do to demonstrate
onclusively,
wouldnotbe
surprised
f
his
nterdependency
among
ities, tates,
nd
politics
was
fairly
well understood
y
philosophers
nd
historians efore
he mid-nineteenth
entury
ise of social historicism.
t is also
likely
hat hese
nterdependencies
ave
subsequently
een
buried,distorted,
r
overlooked,
ndeed
made to
appear
nconceivable o
modern cholars.
xplicitly
recognized,
owever,
hey ive
new
meaning
o what
happened
n that econd rban
revolution.merging as a pronouncedifferentiationf socialandspatial ower,
the
reation f
hierarchy
ased on
kinship
ies,
gender, ropertywnership
r
class,
and
place
of
residence,
ot
ust
urbanvs. non-urban
ut also location
within he
more
entralized
nd ess
egalitarian
uilt
nvironment,
ll sustained
y
new forms
of
coercion nd social
control.
New
populations
ntered he
city
nd the
urban abric.
religious
nd
political
elite,
ncreasing
ts
powers
of coercion nd
control,
ettled
n the most favored
places;
a merchant
lass entered he
ity
nd tookcontrol f their
urf;
he
military
were
given
place
to ive and
work,
s wereother
roups
uch s
city-managers
r
bureaucrats
nd slaves. Cities
grew
in
size to more
than
fifty
housand nd
competitionor esources,rade,ndplundered toempire-building,s onecity-state
attempted
o controlother
city-states
o receive
tribute
n
labor
and
goods.
Geographically
neven
development
nd
globalization egan
to
intensify,
t least
in
theOld
World,
hile
ity-states
lso
multiplied
n New World
egions.
ity-based
states
nd trust etworks
rew together,
timulating
he
spatial
concentration
f
power
over
the accumulationf wealth
nd the coordinationf
Tilly's
threeCs:
capital,
oercion,
nd commitment.
hese concentrationsf
wealth nd
power
were
not social
abstractions
ut were
concretely
xpressed
n
spatially rganized
ity-
states/state-cities,
ymbolically
nd
physically
unctuated
y palaces,
markets,
castles,
nd churches.
Trade ontinuedo be a vital
part
f urban evelopment,s it had been from he
start,
ut he
argest
ransformativeactor
n the
xpansion
fthe
ity-state
as more
connected
o
the
geographical
fficiency
f centralized erritorial
dministration.
Coercion,
oordination,
nd commitment
o not
operate
nly
n
the bstract
ut
n
organized
nodal
spaces
taking
advantage
of
unusually
ntense
urbanization
4y
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370
Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
economies
f
administration
nd the
wielding
f
power.Managing
much
arger
scale urban ocieties ncreased
he
pressure
o nnovate ot
ust
n
coordinating
abor
for
expanding griculturalroduction
ut for
maintainingmperial
ontrol ver
increasinglyar-flungributaryerritories.6hegrowthf ndividualities s wellas
the
population
ize of
city-based
mpires ncreasinglyinged pon
administrative
and
managerialapacity
nd nnovativeness.
The industrial
apitalist ity:
thirdurban revolution?
The
city-state
nd
city-state
ased
empires
volved
n
many
ifferentirectionsrom
their arliest orms. or
many
Western)
cholars,
he medieval
ity epresented
particularlynspired
ersion f urbanized
ociety,
hileothers aw new freedoms
emerging
nthemercantileities f
Europe, ignified
ntheHanseatic
eague
motto
Stadt
uft
macht
rei.
With
the
possible
exception
f the Greek
philosophical
discourse n
democracy,
his ssociation
f
freedom
ith
he
city
was
a
relatively
new
dea,
reflecting
he
mergence
f merchantased ratherhan tate ased cities.
The rise and
globalization
f mercantile
ities,
many
without
ignificant
tate
functions,
ad another
eographical
ffect,
eading
o a
rapidly rowing
oastal
urbanization
rocess,
s
port
ities and
long
distance rade
outes onnected
he
littoralf all
theworlds nhabitedontinentsnd contributedo therelative ecline
of some
city-states
ocated
eeper
nland.
The urbanizationrocessand the stimulus f urbanagglomerationhanged
dramatically
ith
the Industrial evolution.As recent esearch
n
geographical
economics as been
telling
s,
the human
ctivity
hatbenefitsmostfrom rban
agglomeration
nd
urbanizationconomies s
factory-basedanufacturing
r
large
scale industrialization.he Industrial evolution
ccordinglyriggered
n
exponen-
tial
urge
n
urbanizationnlike
ny
that
receded
t. The
proportion
f
theworld's
population
hat
ives
n
cities emained
ery
ow,
probably
ell under
%,
for he
first
,000
years
of societal
development.
t
rises
only
slightly
ver the next
5,000
years hrough
he
age
of the
city-state,
ut
explodes
n
the ate
eighteenth
century,
hen some states uch as Great Britain nd the
Netherlands ecame
predominantlyrban or hefirst ime s a thirdmode of urbanizationmergedn
association ith he
growth
f the ndustrial
apitalistity.
By
1
00,
something
emarkablead
happened
o theurbanization
rocess.
n
the
new kind f
city,
ndustrialization,
apitalist
conomic
evelopment,
he
expanding
power
f
thecentralized
ation-state,
nd what cholars
egan
to call moderniza-
tion ecame
nextricably
inked
o
urbanization.he
macro-geography
f this hird
urban evolution as
quite
differentrom hefirst
wo,
with
heir
rigins rimarily
n
SouthwestAsia.
Although
here was
a
tendency
o
Europeanize
the
global
development
f the
city-state,avoring
reek nd Roman
experiencessomething
Tilly ssiduously
voids),
ndustrial
apitalist
rbanization
n
its nitial
tages
was
6
Among
he
argest
rban
gglomerations
efore herise f thenation-stateere
Teotihuacan
n
present
day
Mexico,
Xi'an
(Sian)
in
China,
Angkor
n
Cambodia, nd,
with
perhaps
s
many
s a million
inhabitants,
ynastic
lexandriand
mperial
ome.There s still
ery
ittle nown
bout
why
ome ities
grew
asternd weremore
generative
han thers. he
iterature
ddressing
his
uestion
s
sparse.
4y
Springer
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(2010)
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371
decidedly
ocused n northwest
urope,
t the uter
dges
of the ld Roman
mpire
in
theBritishsles and Euro-lowlands.
The
great mperial
nd commercial
enters f London and Amsterdam ould
feel the effectsf industrializationn a grandercale thanmostother ities, ut
perhaps
he
purest
xpression
f the
radically
ew urbanization
rocesses
ook
place
in
Manchester, hich,
rom small market
own,
grew
by
1850
to over a
million nhabitants
s the second
argest nglish
ity,
fter
ondon.Manchester's
(like
London's
nd
Amsterdam's)
ndustrializationas
in
arge
art product
f the
globalization
f mercantile
apitalism
nd theformationf
trading
etworks
long
the nhabitedoasts
of all theworld's ontinents.
Manchester
llustrates
aradigmatically
he ntertwinedo-evolutionf
urbaniza-
tion nd ndustrialization
n
a chicken nd
egg
dynamic esembling
hat
happened
earlierwithregardto agricultural evelopment nd state formation. tated
differently,
he ndustrialevolution
nd the
xpansion
f urban ndustrial
apitalism
were
generated
nd
carried
orward
n
and
from
ities.
The conventional isdom
barely ecognizes
r
totally ejects
his
possibility.
fter
ll,
the
historians
ay,
weren't hefirst
actories uilt
long
rural treams
here
apidshelped
o
generate
needed
power?
But
ust
as
it can be said
that,
while ome
settlers
n
thefirst ities
knew
how to
farm,
he
full-fledged gricultural
evolution
rew
out of
the
urbanization
rocess
nd the
stimulus f urban
gglomeration,
o too can
it
be
argued
hat he
expansive
ndustrial evolution
ould nothave
developed
s it did
without
he
generative
orce f
urban
patial ausality.
A brief ookat the nternaleographyeinforceshisview. Urbangrowth as
fueled
rimarily
y
the
entry
f three izeable
populations
hatwerenot
present
n
preindustrial
ities o
any ignificant
egree.
irstwas
the ndustrial
ourgeoisie,
he
factory
wners,
who
with heir
rowing
conomic
ower
ould take
up
the most
favoredocations
oth
n the
enter
often
isplacing
hemercantile
etit ourgeois
residents)
nd outside he core
city,
n
ruralmanors
nd villas once the exclusive
preserve
f the
ristocracy.
uch
arger
n numbers as theurban
roletariat,
orn
away
from he
possibility
f
making living
ther
han
y selling
heirabor
n the
city.Adding
to this
highly
entralized
rbanization
rocess
was a
free-floating
population
Marx's umpenproletariat)
hat
rovided
oth labor
reservoir
nd,
n
theirmiserable onditions,n effectiveool to keep the working lass from
challenging
he new economic
system
oo
vigorously.
or the first
ime in
geohistory,
rban
lums,
overty,
nd
inequality
erved
ositive
ccumulation
nd
integration
unctions.
In thefirst
hase
n the
development
f
the ndustrial
apitalist
ity,
he
workers,
the
obless,
and the
majority
f machine-driven
actories ere
overwhelmingly
concentrated
round he
ity
enter,
here
he timulus f urban
gglomeration
as
at ts
peak.
Centripetal
orces
were
normous,
s industrial
roducers
orged
n the
urbanization
conomies
wellingup
in
the
city
centers.
trong
endencies
oward
concentricityelped
to
shape
the
sociospatial
order of the
city,creating
he
geographical
egularities
oticed irst
y Engels
nManchesternd later onceptu-
alized
by
the
patially
riented
hicago
School
of
Urban
Ecology.
Soja
2000) By
the
ndof thenineteenth
entury,
uchdense
entralitypawned olitical
nrest
nd
sparked
selective
nd
centrifugal
ecentralization
hatwould continue
o the
present
n theform f
metropolitan
rbanization
nd suburbanization.
â
Springer
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372
Theor
oc
(2010)
39:361-376
The evolution
f the tate nd state
heory
ver he
past
two centuriess
usually
treated
eparately
rom he
geohistory
f urban
ndustrialization,
r marked
with
triumphal
ote
proclaiming
he
decline
f urban ocial and
spatialpower.
From
contemporarypatial erspective,owever,tmaybe more ccurate osaythat he
state onsolidatedround
multi-scalarnd hierarchicalational rban
ystem
hat
wove
together
dministrative
unctions,
he
provisioning
f
services,
ommercial
interactionnd
trade,
ndthe
urging
rowth
furban ndustrial
roduction.
n
some
states,
ll
these
hierarchies
onverged
t the
op
n
suchdominantities s London
and
Paris. n
many
thers,
he
majorpolitical
nd economic itiesdiffered.
n all
cases, however,
t
would be
misleading
o
say
that
ities nd urban
power
were
simply
ubordinatednd subsumed
y
the
tate.
Citizenship
as no
longer
efined
by
the
city
region
f
residence ut
t
functionednd was sustained
y
an urban
focusedegal system
nd the
overarchingower
f the conic
capital ity.
Continuing
o sketchnd chematize
uriously,
he ndustrial
apitalistity
nd tate
canbe seen
s
developingogetherhroughremarkablyegular
eries
f
engthy
oom
periods,
uch s thatwhich ollowedfter 848 nd he econdWorld
War,
nd
qually
longperiods
f what an be called
risis-generatedestructuring,
hen
new
forms
f
capitalistevelopment
ndurbanizationook
hape.
Until
oughly
round
70,
national
states onsolidatedheir
olitical
nd
economic
ower
nd
sovereignty
o
powerfully
that heworld eemed o consist
nly
f tate
ctors,
ow
expanded
n
number
hrough
de-colonization.heflat
map
f he nternationaltate
ystem
ook old f he cademic
and
popularmaginations
o uch
degree
hat
early
ll
otherources f
political ower
and uthorityeemed odisappearnd lternativesere lmostnconceivable.
The
contemporaryeconfiguration
f cities nd states7
Over he
past
30
years,
s almost
veryonegrees,
he
overeignty
nd
power
f the
nation-stateas come under
greater
hallenge
han at
any
other ime since the
establishmentf the nation-state
ystem.
his
has
certainly
ot ed to the end of
the
nation-state,
s
some writers
rematurelyresumed,
ut
it
has involved
profoundestructuring
r
reconfiguration
hat as
become
he
ubject
f
a
growing
new literature.s thesepast30 yearshave also seen a markedpatial urnnthe
social sciences nd
humanities,
t s not
urprising
o find hat n
importantegment
of thisnew iteraturen state
estructuring
as
emphasized highly
alient
ritical
spatial
erspective
Brenner
004;
Fraser
008).
During
he same
period,
he urbanization
rocess
nd urban
heory
ave been
experiencing
n
equally rofoundestructuring.any
re
proclaiming
n
emergent
ew
urban
ge,drawingncouragement
rom
he
UN announcementhat he
majority
f he
world's
opulation,
ore han .3 billion
eople,
ow ive
n
ities.
thers,
ith he ame
end f
exaggeration
pplied
o
the
nation-state,
rgue
hat
ities
re
becoming
bsolete
7I have
only
ead hefirst
hapter
f
Tilly's
Cities nd States n World
istory,
o do notknowhow he
would deal with
the
past
two centuries.
n
his
continuing
onnection f
accumulation,
oercion,
coordination,ommitment,
nd
trust,
here s at least the
suggestion
hat our views of
capitalist
urbanizationnd tate ormationrenot
ntirelyncompatible.
n
this
oncluding
ection, owever,
try
o
clarify
hemain ource f
our
differencesnd
to
illustrateurther
he
new
ideas
that
re
generated y
emphaticallypatializing illy's
ook
through istory.
4y
Springer
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Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
373
with he
distance-compressing
ew nformationnd communications
echnologies.
o
what anwe
say
bout
his
rofoundeconfiguration
fcities nd tates? ow different
fromheir
redecessors
ave ities nd tates ecome?
Therehas beenbroad greementhat hree nteractiveorces ave beenprimarily
responsible
or he
estructuring
f cities nd states
n
the
ontemporary
ra.
The new
technologies
ave
played
facilitativeole
n
fostering
n accelerated
lobalization
f
capital,
abor,
nd culture nd the formation
f what s
summarily
alled
a New
Economy,
ariably
escribed
s
postfordist,
nformation
ntensive,lexible,
nd
global.
While
vidence fthe ffects
f these hree orces an be
found
early verywhere
o
some
degree,
hey
ombine
n
unique ways
in
every ity
nd state o
pose
new
challenges
o
nterpretation,omparative
nalysis,
nd
theory-building.
Faced
withthis
complexity
f outcomes nd
in
keeping
with
my assertively
spatial mphasis, focushereon twocloselyrelated spects f thecontemporary
restructuring
f cities
nd states:
escaling
nd
regionalization.
escaling
efers o
the
re-organization
f
the
spatial
cales and hierarchical
tructures
hrough
hich
cities
nd states
perate.
cale has
conventionally
een seen as
rigidly
efined
nd
almost
aturallyiven.
nfluenced
y
the
patial
heories f Henri
Lefebvre,
many
geographers
onceptualize
cale as
socially produced
nd
capable
of
being
re-
organized
n
many
ifferent
ierarchical
rrangements.
articularlymportant
re
the
relations etween
henational nd
supranational
cales on
theone hand nd
urban,
metropolitan,
nd
regional
cales
on the other.The
notionsof
rescaling
nd
regionalization
n
this sense
provide specificallypatial
frameworkor
under-
standinghe o-evolutionf cities nd states.
Threedistinct
cales of
government
re
usually
ssociated
with henation-state.
At
the
top
is the national
overnment,
ith
clearly
defined
nd almost
lways
superior owers
of
coercion, ccumulation,
oordination,
nd the
maintenancef
national
rust,
singTilly's
erms. ocal
government
or
the
ocal
state)
has itsown
distinct
esponsibilities,
ith cities and
municipalities
ften
given
additional
functions
nd
autonomy.
n
between,
epending
n
manygeohistorical
ariables,
are
regions,
rovinces,
tates,
nd other
mesogeographical
uthorities.
t each of
these
evels,
here re
designated
apital
ities nd administrative
eadquarters
here
power
s
geographically
oncentratedo
varying egrees.
For more han century,hese erritorialierarchiesemainedelativelytablen
most
tates,
djusting
nly lightly
f
tall to
changingolitical,
conomic,
nd ultural
conditions.
ver the
past
30
years,
however,
hese
governmental
tructures
ave
become
more
luid,
eading
ome
o
speak
of simultaneous
rocesses
f deterritorial-
ization
nd
reterritorialization,
hereby
ome
longstanding
erritorialuthorities
experience
ignificant
hanges
whileat the same
timenew and different
erritorial
forms
egin
o
emerge
Brenner
004).
While economic
estructuring
t the
global
scale
has been
extensive,
owever,
he
governmental
tructuresf the erritorial
tate
havetended
o
change
muchmore
lowly, iving
ise o a multi-scalar
eries fwhat
many erceive
o be
crises
fgovernance*
8
The
growing
se
of the term
governance
ather han
government
s itself
reflectionf state
restructuring
nd
rescaling.
o the
degree
hat
igid overnmental
tructuresontinue
o resist
ignificant
changes,
he relations etween
he
political
nd economic
rganization
f
the state end to become
increasinglyysfunctional.
ather
han
rying
o
change xisting overnmental
ystems,
ttentionften
shifts
o
creating
lternative
orms f
regulatoryovernance
hat
re more lexible nd
adaptive.
â
Springer
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374
Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
While manifested
ost
clearly
n
the hierarchal
tructuresf the
nation-state,
crises f
governance
an be identified
t
many
different
eographical
cales,
from
the
global
to
the ocal.
Intensifying
nvironmental
hallenges rising
rom limate
change ndglobalwarmings well asworseningolitical roblemsinked oglobal
geopolitics
nd economic crises
have focusedattention n
the
weaknesses
of
existing
nternationaluthoritiesuch
as the UnitedNations nd the WorldBank.
Similar but much
smaller scale
problems
have been on
the rise with local
government,
s
existing
tructures
eem no
longer
o be able to handle
ncreasing
problems
f
poverty,
nfrastructure
epair,
nd
public
health
nd
safety.
The
rescaling
nd
regionalization
f state
ower
s
a
response
o these
lobal
nd
local tensions. s the
global
economy
ecomes
more
ntegrated
nd reconstituted
around
a
new
hierarchy
f
global
or world cities and
city regions,
national
boundaries
ecomemore
orous
nd the erritorial
xclusivity
f the
nation-state,
ts
ability
o actwithout
hallenge
n what
appens
withints
boundaries,
s diluted.We
have
not
yet
reached
borderless orld or the end of the
nation-state,
ut
profoundhanges
avebeen
aking lace globally, ationally,egionally,
nd
ocally.
Among
he most
mportant
ffects f
globalization
nd economic
estructuring
has been a
resurgence
f
regionalism
bove
and
below
the normal cale of
operations
fthenation-state.
uilding
n themodel
fthe
European
nion,
hefirst
confederationf ndustrializedtates
n
geohistory,
as
been
proliferation
f
multi-
state
rading
locs such s
NAFTA,MERCOSUR,
ASEAN,
and
many
thers,
illing
in what 0
years go
was a
virtuallympty upranational
cale,
between henational
and theglobal. Similarly,herehas been a worldwideesurgencef subnational
regionalisms,
rom
Quebec
and
Catalonia
o
Eritrea
nd
Aceh.
The
metropolitan
regional
cale also seem
to be
changing apidly
withthe
growth
f
expansive,
polynucleated
ity egions ncreasinglysserting
hemselvess
driving
orces
n
the
global geopolitical conomy
Scott
1998,
2001).
This has
given
new
meaning
o
such terms s the
city-state
r,
n a
more
recent
nvention,
he
region-state
o
describe
uch
quasi-autonomous
ntitiess
Quebec
or Catalonia.
It is
important
o
note,however,
hat
upranational
nd subnational
egionaliza-
tion
have
not
necessarily
weakened the
power
of nation-states. s
notably
exemplified
n
theresuscitatedationalisms
or
perhaps
tatismss a better
ord)
of some members f theEuropeanUnion, he statemaynot be losingpowerbut
enhancing
t
through escaling
ts
activities,
hat
s,
continuing
o be
in
control f
supranational evelopments
while also
using
decentralizationnd devolution
policies
o maintainather
han
ransfer
uthority
ver ts nternalrban nd
regional
governments.
hat s clear s thatwe cannot
eneralize
boutwhetherhe tate s
gaining
r
osing ower
nd
sovereignty
n
the urrent
ra,
butwe must ealize
hat
the
nation-state
ystem
s no
longer
what
t
used to be and
requires
ew modesof
understanding
nd
analysis.
Similar
rocesses
f
rescaling
nd
regionalization
avebeen
ffecting
hemodern
metropolis.
n
Postmetropolis
2000),
I
described his
crisis-generated
rban
restructurings a productfglobalization,heneweconomyf flexibleapitalism,
and the
revolution
n
informationnd communications
echnology. edging
somewhat,
described hatwas
happening
s the
postmetropolitan
ransition.
ore
recently,
have
emphasized
he
emergence
f a new
development
rocess
have
called
regional
rbanization
Soja
2009,
2010).
a
Springer
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Theor oc
(2010)
39:361-376
375
Regional
rbanization
egan
t
east
0
years
go, ayering
nto
what
has beenfor
more than
a
century process
of
metropolitan
rbanization.
Metropolitan
urbanization as become so familiar nd
intensely
tudied
hat,
ike the nation-
state, t is frequentlyonsidered o be the only conceivable formof urban
development.
he
stereotypical
odern
metropolis
ends o be
monocentric,
nnular
in
the enseof
having
ome dentifiable
oncentricities,
ost
notably
pronounced
dualism etween n urban ore ndvarious
ings
f
suburbanization.here
s almost
always
a
steep
density radient, ropping
ff
from
highly entripetal
entral
business
nd
government
istrict,
nd
flattening
ut
n a
much ess dense
uburbia,
consisting
f
manymunicipalities
he
majority
f whose
working
esidentsommute
to
employment
enters
n
theurban ore.Urbanism
nd suburbanism
epresentery
different
ays
of
life,
he former ore
culturally
nd
racially eterogeneous,
nd
filledwithgalleries,museums, ighcrime ates,widespread ruguse, and thick
layers
f social nteractionhile he uburbs re
more
homogeneous,
onotonous,
healthy you
know herest.
All thishas
begun
to
change
with
regional
rbanization. he
metropolis
as
become
increasingly
unbound
n an urban variation f deterritorialization-
reterritorialization.
he once clearborder etween rban nd suburban
s
blurring
significantly
s the
densitygradient egins
to
flatten
hrough paradoxical
urbanization
f suburbia nd
a
selective
ollowing
ut of the nner
ity,
n
some
cases
to be refilled ith lows
f
mmigrants
rom round heworld.
t
seems
s
if
the
city
s
being
turned
nside-out nd outside-in
t
the same
time. As inner
boundarieslur, o too does the outer oundaryf theregional itybecome ess
distinct,
s the urbanreachesoutward
o a
global
scale. The
postmetropolis
becomesmore
olycentric,
nmeshed
n a
larger
etworkf
cities,
nd a new urban
form,
he
global
city egion, merges
n
between he ubnational
nd
metropolitan
scales.9
The
unbounding
f the
modern
metropolis,
s
in
part
the
product
f the
globalization
of
the
urban,
creating
the most
culturally
nd
economically
heterogeneous
ities
heworldhas ever
een,
has been
at the ame time
eading
o
the urbanization
f the entire
lobe.
t is thisextension o its limits f
processes
begun
hundreds
f
not thousands
f
years ago
that
s
driving
he
rescaling
nd
regionalizationfcities, tates,nd their etworksftrust,oercion,egulation,nd
identity
ormation.
t both concludes ur look
through eohistory
nd
opens up
challenging
ew avenues
f
nvestigation.
Open
Access
This article s distributednder
the termsof the CreativeCommons
Attribution
Noncommercial
icense which
permits
ny
noncommercial
se, distribution,
nd
reproduction
n
any
medium,
rovided
he
original
uthor(s)
nd source re credited.
9
To mention
ust
two extreme ases of these
hanges,
he
expanded
ity egion
f
Shanghai,
overing
most f
the
Yangtze
iver
elta,
as
recently
eenestimatedo contain 2
million nhabitantsnd several
other
megacityegions
r
megalopolitanegions
both
ew
erms)
owexceed50 million. ust
s
startling,
theurbanized
rea of Los
Angeles
a
relatively
ew census
ategory oughly
oincident ithwhatwas
called he
built-up
rea)
passed
Greater ew York
s thedensestn the
ountry,
s millions
f
mmigrants
concentrate
n theurban ore
whileLA's classic uburbia ecomes
ncreasingly
rbanized.
4y
Springer
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(2010)
39:361-376
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.
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ew
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theory.
ondon:
Verso.
Soja,
E.
W.
(1996).
Thirdspace: ourneys
o Los
Angeles
nd other
eal-and-imaginedlaces
Oxford:
Blackwell.
Soja,
E. W.
2000).
Postmetropolis:
ritical tudies
f
cities nd
regions.
xford: lackwell.
Soja,
E. W.
(2009).
Regional lanning
nd
development
heories.n N. Thrift
R. Kitchin
Eds.),
The
intprnntinnnl pnrvrlrmprlin nf humnn oprtarnnhv Amçterrlatrr Fiçpvifr
Soja,
E. W.
(2010).
From
metropolitan
o
regional
rbanization.n A.
Loukaitou-Sideris T.
Banerjee
(Eds.),
Urban
esign:
Roots,
nfluences
nd
trends. ondon:
Routledge.
Wart, .,
&
Anas,
S.
(Eds.).
(2009).
The
patial
turn:
nterdisciplinaryerspective.
ondon:
Routledge.
Edward W.Soja isDistinguishedrofessorfUrban lanningtUCLA andoccasional isiting rofessor
in
the Cities
Programme
t the London School of Economics.
His
major
books include ostmodern
Geographies
1989),
Thirdspace
1996),
and
Postmetropolis2000).
His mostrecent
ook
is
Seeking
Spatial
Justice,
n
analysis
f
abor-community
oalition
uilding
nd
struggles
ver he
right
o the
ity
in
Los
Angeles, ublished
n
2010
by University
f Minnesota
ress.
&.
Springer
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