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Why Cities? A Response
Author(s) -
Walker Richard A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international journal of urban and regional research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.456
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1468-2427
pISSN - 0309-1317
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2427.12335
Subject(s) - nexus (standard) , economic geography , field (mathematics) , neglect , economies of agglomeration , urban theory , sociology , urban economics , scale (ratio) , regional science , neoclassical economics , economics , geography , economic growth , cartography , microeconomics , civil engineering , engineering , medicine , mathematics , nursing , pure mathematics , embedded system
Why do cities exist? Geographers Allen Scott and Michael Storper recently put the question before the field of urban studies and provided a clear and concise answer in terms of economies of agglomeration and the urban land nexus. I argue that two other basic elements must be added to this duo: the spatial concentration of economic surplus by ruling classes and states and the creation of a built environment or urban landscape. In addition, I take issue with Scott and Storper's neglect of the problem of scale in urban theory and their overly tidy sense of what constitutes a scientific approach to complex phenomena like cities.
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