Divided cities in the 21st century: challenging the importance of globalisation

In this paper the focus is on the explanation of divided cities. We will make clear that many elements of older theories are still very relevant when divisions within cities have to be explained. This is obviously still the case in a world which is described by a large number of geographers and urban sociologists as increasingly globalising. A main argument could be that in the last three decades or so the process of globalisation has become enormously influential in explaining changes within cities, but in this paper we want to modify this notion. Our argument will be that attention for globalisation is useful, but that we should never exaggerate the influence of this process in a city as a whole and in parts of that city. In other words: we want to challenge the importance of globalisation when explaining divided cities or urban change in general.

Ronald van KempenEmail: