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tions and consumers who ultimately buy these
products. This combination of factories, workers'
housing, infrastructure and sales centres reflect
what Harvey describes as a
structured coherence
within cities: a kind of space that has all of the
necessary ingredients that are required for capital-
ism to thrive.
A key aspect of Harvey's analysis of urbaniza-
tion is the argument that because cities are deeply
interconnected with capitalist development, urban
spaces are subject to the fluctuations and crises
associated with capitalism. During the late 1960s
and early 1970s, for example, a series of traditional
blue-collar cities such as Baltimore, Birmingham
and Detroit saw their structured coherence
unravel as global capitalism entered a period of
crisis and restructuring. In the wake of a global
downturn in economic fortunes, many companies
that had been located in these cities sought to
preserve and enhance their profit margins by
moving production to offshore locations where
labour costs were greatly reduced. But what
happened in these cities is indicative of another
way in which capitalism and urbanization are
interconnected. During the 1970s and 1980s,
older industrial cities went through a period of
major restructuring (what Harvey terms
creative
destruction
) (see Harvey, 1989c). This restructuring
saw new rounds of financial investment flowing
into the property markets of these cities. This, so-
called,
secondary circuit
of capital is associated
with the flow of money into the acquisition of
land and the construction of new urban offices,
condominiums and housing. As the recent sub-
prime housing crisis in North America has
shown, this secondary circuit of urban capitalist
investment is also crisis prone (for an excellent
Source: Tim Cresswell
(Harvey, 1985a). The primary circuit of capital
involves the production, circulation and trade of
goods such as TVs, motorcars and food. Harvey
noticed how cities effectively collected together the
different ingredients that are needed for the
production and circulation of goods. First, cities
see factories and production centres located in
close proximity to where large numbers of workers
live. Second cities combine high concentrations of
warehouses and distribution depots with the best
road and rail infrastructure. Third, urban centres
see the clustering of retail centres and shopping
malls that sell products, alongside the popula-
Harvey talks about urbanization in Baltimore
In YouTube search for 'david harvey/city from below/part 2/urban crisis/amnesia/
reconstruction/promises'. This video shows David Harvey overlooking Baltimore's Inner
Harbor and talking about changing patterns of urban development in the city.
