The City in Time and Space: Political Power, Economic
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THE CITY IN TIME AND SPACE: POLITICAL POWER, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS, 1400-2010 by Daniel S. Pasciuti A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland October, 2013 © 2013 Daniel Pasciuti All Rights Reserved Abstract This dissertation analyzes the world’s largest cities from 1400 to 2010, using a database of historical estimates of urban population that was compiled and developed by the author. Using this database, I identify a recurrent reorganization of global urban space moving between a hierarchical and heterarchical distribution of cities. Moreover, I show how this pendulum swing between hierarchy and heterarchy is highly correlated with recurrent crises of capital accumulation and associated shifts in the geographical center of power in the capitalist world economy. Finally, through a comparative-historical analysis of key cities over the past six centuries, this study develops a causal analysis of the relationship between systemic cycles of accumulation, urban (re)development, and crises of capital. By placing cities into a marco-historical perspective, this study shows how contemporary urban crises are embedded in the dynamics of capital accumulation over the longue durée. The comparative-historical analysis presented in this study helps demonstrate why much of the current literature on urbanization is unable to reconcile the role and history of ‘primate’ cities in the world economy of the twentieth century and the emergence of new urban spaces in the twenty-first century. By challenging the narrative of national urban development in the twentieth century, it becomes clear that the ongoing urban transformation of the twenty-first century is not unprecedented (as it is commonly argued in the literature on urbanization), but is part of a recurrent cyclical reorganization and secular expansion of capital accumulation. Finally, the longue durée analysis presented here leads us to expect a transition away from the national cities of the twentieth century and towards an urban form that in many ways shares a closer commonality, politically, to ii the city states of fifteenth century Italy and, demographically, to the imperial cities of the nineteenth century. Advisers: Giovanni Arrighi, 2004-2009 Beverly J. Silver Ho-fung Hung Committee Members (Readers): Katrina Bell McDonald Christopher Chase-Dunn Siba Grovogui iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not be written without lasting support and encouragement from many individuals and the Department of Sociology. Giovanni Arrighi, who was my primary advisor before he passed away in 2009, always pushed his students to challenge the strongest part of an argument. I recall vividly the many conversations with him defending the scope of my investigation as too broad for a dissertation. He was correct of course; my initial premise was to study urbanization of the past two millennia and while some of my interest still lies in that direction, it is without question that I could not have accomplished my work on the scale I initially proposed. His council and guidance are always missed. Beverly Silver never stopped pushing me to improve my analytical framework and understand what I was really trying doing in my investigation. It was her grasp of what I was engaged with, through the prism of urbanization that ultimately brought about the realization to write this dissertation. She became my primary adviser after Giovanni’s passing and it was her determination to not let me walk away from the program that prevented me from leaving Baltimore in 2009. Her tenacity to push my intellectual work to its best and her devotion to her students and colleagues is powerful combination and has had and will continue to have profound influence on me both as a scholar and as a person. I also owe a strong debt of gratitude to several others. Christopher Chase-Dunn who introduced me to world systems and political economy as an undergrad and whose influence still stands as strong in my work as it did the day I left Riverside. It was iv working with Chris on the Cities and Empires Project that ignited my interest in the historical development of cities and continues to form the basis of much of my intellectual work. Even after I left to attend graduate school at JHU, he has never ceased to keep track of me and offer support and encouragement including copious feedback on anything I sent him. I am deeply grateful for all his advice and support for over a decade now. Katrina McDonald has been a true friend and mentor for many years and was someone I could always count on to help guide me through difficult periods during my time at Hopkins. She is that rare person who always knows when you need a shoulder for support and offers it without question or qualification. Her influence in my professional career as both a student of statistics and as a teacher has been profound. On the way toward the completion of my dissertation, a number of people read the whole or parts of my dissertation and offered useful advice and suggestions. They are Ho-fung Hung, Siba Grovogui, Mel Kohn, at Hopkins. I also benefited greatly from my fellow students at Hopkins, particularly Astra Bonini, Rachel Core, Kevin Harris, Sahan Savas Karatasli, Sefika Kumral, Benjamin Scully, Erdem Yoruk, Lu Zhang, . Finally I owe special thanks to my family who supported me through this process and always tried to understand and encourage my work. The influence of my mother and grandmother looms large in my pursuit of knowledge and my trajectory in life. They are two of the strongest individuals I know. My deepest thanks must go to my wife, Cassie. Her understanding and support, even as we struggled to start a family, were always unwavering. It was her council and push to v complete the program and my dissertation several years ago that has led me to this point. I cannot imagine what my work and life would be if she were not always there supporting me, encouraging me and helping me throughout these years. She has always been a true friend and partner and in many ways this accomplishment is as much hers and it is mine. vi Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ vii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures .....................................................................................................................x Introduction ........................................................................................................................1 Part I: Patterns of Urbanization .......................................................................................8 Chapter 1: Articulating a Social Spatial Relationship Section 1.2: City Size Distributions in Time and Space ........................................23 Section 1.3: Conceptualizing Systemic Cycles of Accumulation as Urban Cycles of Accumulation: An Alternative to Zipf...............................................................34 Section 1.4: The Question of Demographic Size and Geographic Space ..............41 Section 1.5: Patterns of Urbanization in Macro-Historical Perspective ................50 Chapter 2: City-States and the Origins of the Modern World System, 1400-1750 58 Section 2.2: Urban Demographics in Macro Perspective ......................................65 Section 2.3: Heterarchy in the World-Economy ....................................................73 Section 2.4: Discovery of the World and Urban Hierarchy Genesis .....................80 Section 2.5: Naples: Nexus of Imperial Power and Cosmopolitan Wealth ...........89 Chapter 3: The Sunset of the City-State and the Dawn of the Nation-State: 1600- 1880 ..............................................................................................................................101 Section 3.2: The Containers of Power .................................................................109 Section 3.3: The Imperial City and the Nation State ...........................................117 Chapter 4: Urban Hierarchy in Macro Perspective................................................125 Section 4.2: Uneven Spatial Development: 1750 to 1880 ...................................137 Section 4.3: The Rise of the European Metropolis ..............................................146 Part II: Dynamics of Urbanization ...............................................................................157 Chapter 5: Building Capitalism: From City-State to Nation-State Section 5.2: The Dialectic of Urbanization..........................................................169 vii Section 5.3: Building Capitalism: Entrepôt of Industrialization and Imperialism ..............................................................................................................................175 Section 5.4: Building Capitalism: London and Paris in the Age of Credit and Empires ................................................................................................................188 Section 5.5: The ‘Ecological Marvel’ and the Crisis of Capital in the Built Environment .........................................................................................................199 Chapter 6: Imperial Hierarchy and Urban Development: The Rise of Madras ..214 Section 6.2: Imperial Hierarchy and Urban Development: