Narrative in Urban Theory

Abstract

This article traces three phases urban theory: descriptive urban theory, Marxist urban theory, and postcolonial urban theory. It argues that these three types of urban writings do not only differ thematically from, but also critique directly the phase of theory that precedes them. While the descriptive theory of the Chicago School is interested in studying then-new features of urban life, the political-economy paradigm of the Marxist urban theorists argues for a structural analysis of urbanism, pointing to the role of capital accumulation vis-a-vis the production of urban space. Most recently, postcolonial urban theory argues against the political- economy paradigm and its structuralist tendency to theorize world cities in terms of economic-financial relations at the expense of other aspects of urbanism. The article concludes by reviewing the usefulness and limits of writing urban theory around a theme.