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Chris Hamnett
Unequal City - London in the Global Arena
Routledge, 2003
304 pages, 234x156,
Illustrations: 45 line figures, 3 b+w photos, 39 tables
ISBN : 04153173112
Buying information
http://www.routledge-ny.com/books.cfm?isbn=0415317304&CFID=188787&CFTOKEN=71576997
Book presentation
Unequal City examines some of the dramatic economic and social changes
that have taken place in London over the last forty years. It describes
how London's changing industrial structure, particularly the shift
from an industrial to a services based city, and the associated
changes in occupational class structure and in the structure of
earnings and incomes, have worked through to the housing market
and the gentrification of large parts of inner London. This has
had major consequences for both the social structure and the built
environment of London.
It asserts that this transformation in London's industrial structure,
from a city with a large manufacturing base to one based primarily
on business, financial, creative and other services, is linked to
a major change in its occupational structure. But, unlike much of
the literature, which argues that cities like London have become
increasingly socially polarised, it argues that London has become
more professionalised and has a shrinking manual workforce. The
changes in the industrial and occupational structure of London have
been linked to changes in its earnings and income structures. The
dominant feature of London has been an expansion of its high earning
groups and a marked increase in both earnings and income inequality.
The growth of this expanded new middle class has had major impacts
on the nature of the London housing market, particularly in the
growth of home ownership, rising prices and the expansion of middle
class gentrification across much of inner London. This has been
paralleled by the growing marginalisation of the less skilled, the
unemployed and various minority groups in the council sector. These
changes have reshaped the social structure and social geography
of London. They have made it a more unequal city.
Unequal City relates to the literature on global cities. The book
has a wide sweep and summarises a wide range of literature on occupational
and industrial change, earnings and incomes and the housing market
and gentrification. It provides a wealth of original data, figures,
maps and tables and will be a valuable reference for anyone interested
in the changes that have reshaped the social structure of London
in recent decades.
Contents
List of Plates
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction:the remaking of London
2. The economy of London:from industrial to post-industrial city
3. The transformation of Lodon's occupational structure and the
rise of the new middle class
4. Widening inequality:earnings and incomes
5. Multi-ethnic Lodon:migration, race and ethnicity
6. The transformation of the housing market
7. Gentrification and the middle-class remaking of Inner London
8. Deprivation, social exclusion and its consequences
9. Remaking the landscape:from industrial to post-industrial city
Bibliography
Index
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