著者

水野 真彦

出版者

一般社団法人 人文地理学会

雑誌

人文地理 (ISSN:00187216)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.62, no.5, pp.426-444, 2010 (Released:2018-01-19)

参考文献数

109

被引用文献数

2

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This paper reviews studies focused on the economic and social restructuring of cities in developed countries in the 2000s (2000-2009) from the viewpoint of economic geography. Drawing on critical examinations of the global cities thesis and the creative class thesis by Saskia Sassen and Richard Florida, respectively, the author points out the following four features of urban restructuring during the decade.First, urban spaces that contain land and buildings have gradually been incorporated in global financial capitalism. In other words, they have become financial products that have been traded beyond local and national borders, which caused a growth in financial business and a rapid rise in housing prices and rent prior to the financial crisis. The surge of financial capitalism in the 2000s has had a tendency to destabilize urban spaces and the lives of the residents in these areas.Second, neo-liberal policy movements have emphasized intensifying intercity competition and the rise of urban entrepreneurialism. City governments increasingly tend to pay more attention to attracting mobile capital, and neglect social policy for city residents, who are relatively immobile.Third, according to Sassen, global cities are characterized by the economic and social polarization of urban residents. In the 2000s, many Japanese writers and researchers discussed the fact that Japan had been converted into a gap-widening society. The increasing job insecurity of younger workers is suggested as a cause of the widening of the income gap. In particular, some critics perceive the suburbs as a problem, partly because irregular and low-paid employment is often a feature of these regions. In addition, this decade has witnessed an increase in the regional disparity between Tokyo and the rest of Japan.Fourth, the intercity competition for attracting highly skilled talents has been accelerated in the 2000s. Richard Florida insists that attracting the creative class is fundamental to urban development. He suggests that diversity, openness, and tolerance are magnets that attract the creative class. Although his view has drawn the attention of local politicians and policymakers, a considerable number of scholars criticized it for several reasons. One of these criticisms is that urban development can be better explained in terms of locations that offer job opportunities rather than the residential preferences of people or urban amenities. Another criticism is that urban policies based on Florida’s view possibly deepen the social divide between the creative class and the rest of the population. We have to recognize the importance of job creation in production activities throughout the production chains in order to prevent the deepening of the social divide in urban societies.