Economic heterogeneity and the return of the central city

Abstract

Notions of the ‘central’ – as a dense core – have dominated the sense that urbanisation is replete with the possibilities of accessibility, concentration, efficiency, and productive power. The city was thought to culminate in a centre, an almost mystical gravitational pull that would pull materials and bodies into its regard. If there were any doubt as to the existence of such an overarching organizational force, its location was marked with excess – as the physical dimension of the built environment and valuations of all kinds would inflate. In some respects the affirmation of a centre as far as cities are concerned would prove somewhat counter-intuitive to urbanization processes seemingly more inclined to disperse, multiply and fragment rather than gather up. Distinctions between a clearly discernible centre and periphery, and other such gradations, historically have proven ambiguous as indicators of a capacity to make things happen. Centres have always seemed unduly aided by various administrative sleights of hand, things that would seem to slow down rather than quicken urbanized relations (Pacione 2009; Parker 2006; Soja 2000).