The Dictionary of Human Geography

Comp. by: LElumalai Stage : Revises1 ChapterID: 9781405132879_4_P Date:1/4/09
Time:15:20:51 Filepath:H:/00_Blackwell/00_3B2/Gregory-9781405132879/appln/3B2/re-
vises/9781405132879_4_P.3d

bio-political controversies’ (Whatmore,

2004, p. 1360). sjh

Suggested reading

Whatmore (2004).

post-industrial city Acitywhose economic

geography has passed from a dependence on

manufacturing to an emphasis on service

employment (seeservices). Typically, its dual

labour marketis characterized by a division

between well-paid private- and public-sector

professional and managerial workers and

lower-paid service staff. The pattern of land

uses and social areas in the post-industrial city

shows marked variations from the arrange-

ment in the classic concentric-ring model of

industrial cities (cf.zonal model). The down-

town skyline is now marked by new invest-

ment in office towers, public institutions, arts

and sports complexes, and restaurant and

leisureservices. The brownfield sites of old

industrial and transportation land uses around

downtown have given way to waterfront

redevelopment of condominiums and public

leisure spaces, often the result ofpublic__

private partnerships. A number ofinner-

city neighbourhoods have experienced

reinvestment andgentrificationas the hous-

ing market responds to the downtownlabour

marketof advanced services. New immigrants

and the working poor are being displaced out-

wards to suburban sites, which have become

the new focus of manufacturing and wholesal-

ing, adjacent to the airport and regional high-

way routes. Thesuburbsare diversifying in

lifestyle and social status, and with the emer-

gence of satellite town centres (oredge cities

in the largestmetropolitan areas) are assum-

ing a more urban status themselves.

The characteristics of the post-industrial

city extend beyond its population and land-

use features. Canadian studies indicate that

thegenderand family traits of post-industrial

cities differ from those with a manufacturing

base, with smallerhouseholds, a greater ten-

dency for gender equality in the workplace,

and lower and later marriage rates (Ley,

1996). Lifestyleliberalismand higher levels

ofsecularismare among distinctive attitu-

dinal and cultural associations.

Though typically experiencing economic

and population growth, the post-industrial city

faces significant challenges. Since the 1980s,

neo-liberalpolicy has tended to trade welfare

services for entrepreneurial objectives (Harvey,

1989a), accentuating social and spatial polar-

ization (Walks, 2001). The emphasis upon

quality of lifeconsiderations for the middle

classmight compromise provision of more

basic services; for example, tax dollars

expended on consumer attractions such as

sports stadia could diminish the quality of life

of more impoverished populations (Friedman,

Andrew and Silk, 2004). Population growth

and a large middle-class labour market are

often associated with challenges to housing

affordability (seehousing studies). Under-

investment in public transportation has heigh-

tened the dependence on the private car, lead-

ing to traffic congestion and severe air

pollutionepisodes. And, as the Parisbanlieu

riots of 2005 demonstrated so keenly, subur-

ban sites may be a newly emergent zone of

acutesocial exclusion. dl

Suggested reading

Ley (1980); Robson (1994).

post-industrial society A conceptualization

of the changing conditions ofeconomyand

society in the global north, beginning

approximately in the 1960s. The term was

popularized by Daniel Bell’s immensely influ-

ential book (1999 [1973]), and has enjoyed

widespread dissemination, though not always

with the specificity that Bell intended. Post-

industrial society is concerned with an occu-

pational transformation in advanced societies

as, with automation and outsourcing, employ-

ment moves increasingly to a white-collar, ser-

vice profile, with specialized information and

information technology playing a key role in

the shaping of society and economy. Beyond

this, some authors see an evolutionary process,

with societies passing through discrete eco-

nomic and social stages from the harvesting

of raw materials, to manufacturing, and finally

to the provision ofservicesaiding both con-

sumption and production.

Through the 1970s, several variations on the

theme of post-industrial society emerged.

Influenced by the French student reaction

against inaccessible state bureaucracies,

Alain Touraine (1971) proposed that the hold-

ers of specialized information were becoming a

privileged technocracy, extending control over

growing domains ofeveryday life. A second

stream of work emphasized the holders of spe-

cialized knowledge as a new middleclassof

professional and managerial workers, though

internally fragmented by their variable access

to economic andcultural capitaland their

location in the public and private sectors

(Gouldner, 1979). A third track emphasized

by Manuel Castells and his followers identified

Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_P Final Proof page 565 1.4.2009 3:20pm

POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY