Metropolitics

Bargain hunting in the “small-commodity city” of Yiwu, China

Alison Hulme — 2015-11-10T06:00:00Z

China's rise in the global economy has been largely based on the manufacturing of both cheap and expensive goods. Focusing on the growth of “function spaces” of mass production in Yiwu, Alison Hulme explores this “other” city and its challenge to the rise of the spectacular “image spaces” provided by established world cities.
Approximately three hours by train inland from Shanghai lies the “small-commodity city” of Yiwu—a promised land for the international wholesale buyer of low-end

- Essays / consumption, urban economy, China, new town, industry, economic development, global supply chain, function spaces, image spaces, manufacturing, specialization, commodity city

Occupy Mall Street?

Anthony Maniscalco — 2015-04-21T04:50:00Z

The quintessential suburb is home to the shopping mall, an indoor space of anchor departments stores, small specialty shops and food courts. This multi-tiered site of commerce is sometimes repurposed as a senior exercise track, a meeting place for holiday festivities, or YouTube-inspired flash mobs. However, as Tony Maniscalco explains, coordinated efforts and legal precedents have curbed the possibility of freedom of expression and assembly at shopping malls.
When the suburban shopping mall

- Debates / consumption, public space, United States, property, suburbs, retail, commerce, shopping mall, First Amendment, assembly, supreme court

The new spaces of consumption

Andrea Mubi Brighenti — 2012-05-30T04:55:00Z

Recent retail spaces are giving a new shape to our everyday environment. Kärrholm proposes new concepts to better understand these changes and how they affect our practices, for example by syncing our lives with the "rhythm of shopping." Brief introduction to the discipline of "architectural territorology."
Retail spaces in Western cities have changed dramatically during the last half-century, both quantitatively and qualitatively, shaping new relations with the rest of the city space, and

- Reviews / architecture, consumption, urban planning, retail, retail areas

The Ladies Kingdom and Its Many Uses. A shopping mall in Riyadh for women only

Saba A. Le Renard & translated by Eric Rosencrantz — 2011-03-30T05:30:00Z

The frenetic development of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia is unveiling new and unexpected urban realms, including a shopping mall for women only: the following is a look at a public space liberated from the constraints of social control – and consecrated to consumption.
Inside the shopping mall of the Kingdom Centre (Al Mamlaka), a modern tower built in 2001 and overlooking the new “urban glamor zone” (Saskia Sassen 1996) of downtown Riyadh, there is a whole floor reserved for women called the

- From the Field / consumption, public space, gender, Saudi Arabia, retail, retail areas, shopping mall

The Paradoxes of Urban Authenticity

Andrea Mubi Brighenti — 2010-11-25T11:43:04Z

Diversity is becoming a moot point as consumerism replaces authenticity.
In this well written, engaging and enlightening book, Sharon Zukin describes a series of profound ongoing urban transformations that are increasingly leading from a city of production to a city of consumption. Zukin illuminates a crucial tension between urban villages and the corporate city at the heart of many contemporary cities. Faithful to her analysis of the role of the symbolic economy and its interweaving with

- Reviews / authenticity, gentrification, consumption, United States