POLITICAL ECONOMY PARADIGM

THE POLITICAL ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE IS AN INTERPRETIVE FRAMEWORK THAT UNDERSTANDS URBANIZATION NOT AS THE RESULT OF NATURAL PROCESSES BUT AS THE RESULT OF ACTIONS AND DECISIONS BY THOSE WHO HAVE ECONOMIC OR POLITICAL POWER (HILLER, 2004:45).

THE “POLITICAL ECONOMY” PARADIGM EMPHASIZES INVESTMENTS SHIFTS BY BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, AND INTERNATIONAL CORPORATIONS THAT SHAPED CITIES BY TRANFERRING THE OWNERSHIP AND USES OF LAND FROM ONE SOCIAL CLASS TO ANOTHER (ZUBIN, 1996: 43).

FURTHERMORE, THE POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH FOCUSES ON HOW CONFLICTS BETWEEN DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF THE URBAN POPULATION, NOTABLY SOCIAL CLASSES AND RACIAL AND ETHNIC POPULATIONS, DETERMINED THE PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL CHARACTER OF THE METROPOLIS.

{FOCUS ON THE LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF PRODUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL POWER RELATIONS IN THE GLOBAL NORTH AND GLOBAL SOUTH =====> EX: NEO-COLONIALISM – TODAY, MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS OPERATING WORLDWIDE HAVE RECONFIGURED A NEW AGENDA FOR IMPERIALIST INTERVENTION, WHERE POOR NATIONS SUPPORT AND STRENGTHEN RICH NATIONS BY PROVIDING INEXPENSIVE LABOUR, EASY ACCESS TO RAW MATERIALS, AND VAST MARKETS FOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS.}.

[ZUKIN, SHARON. 1996. SPACE AN SYMBOLS IN AN AGE OF DECLINE’, IN ANTHONY D. KING (ED.), RE-PRESENTING THE CITY: ETHNICITY, CAPITAL AND CULTURE IN THE 21^ST CENTURY METROPLIS. NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS, 43 – 59.]