Product Description

Examines some of the dramatic economic and social changes that have taken place in London over the last forty years, describing how this has had major consequences for both the social structure and the built environment of London.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #66043 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
'The book is a long desired, coherent and brilliant analysis of rising inequalities in one of Europe's most important cities. It offers much stimulation for comparative research.' - Hartmut Haeussermann, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

'It is an important contribution to the debate over the effect of globalization on cities and the effect of the transformed economic structure of global cities on social structure.' - Professor Susan Fainstein, Columbia University

From the Back Cover
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.

Customer Reviews

A Well-Written, Easy-to-Read Analysis of Modern London
Unequal City is a broad, well-written, easy-to-read analysis of the dramatic economic and social changes that have taken place within London over the past forty years. The debate on how and why London has changed is well argued, with up-to-date statistical evidence backing up many different points of view. The argument benefits significantly from over eighty figures, comparing data from hundreds of sources. The bibliography of over six hundred publications gives further evidence to the book's broad considerations of all opinions of the undeniable, observable effects of globalisation in London, both economically and socially. By focusing on London, Hamnett tries to highlight the general processes occurring within the 'global city'. He regularly compares London to New York and other Western metropolises.

Hamnett starts by describing the changes in London's economy from industrial to post-industrial city since the 1960s, and then continues for much of the rest of the book explaining how this has affected London's social, racial, occupational and class structure. He talks of the rise of the new middle-class, multi-ethnic London, transformations in the housing market (including gentrification) and the consequences of social deprivation and exclusion. Each chapter provides a different aspect or approach to the widening inequalities in London. The chapters are well-linked and make the book flow well. He regularly links back to previous chapters, and even argues against them by providing contradictory evidence. By doing so, he provides a generally balanced and well-argued debate. Nonetheless, Hamnett does give particular emphasis to (his) view that cities like London are becoming more professionalized with a shrinking manual workforce. Hamnett claims that the poor are being pushed out of London as the growing middle class is pushing up house prices. This is a contrasting view to much other literature on London and global cities, which is often of the view that London is becoming more socially polarised, with little overall increase in wealth.

Hamnett's statistical evidence is generally the latest available and most of the quoted sources were written within the last few years. Much data is from the Greater London Authority, publications such as The Economist and the 1991 Census. These are trustworthy, quality sources, which are readily available (many online) for further investigation by the reader. It is unfortunate that the 2001 Census data was not used in this book, as many of the other statistics are from the period 1995-2001. The graphs and tables help the message and allow the comparison of data from different sources. One small criticism here is the lack of colour used in the graphs, which are sometimes unclear, especially where bar graphs rely on several shades of grey. Maps show the geography of London's inequality, but could also benefit from colour as many are hard to decipher with different types of lines showing levels of deprivation, house price changes or growth in the middle-class. The use of lines doesn't allow the maps to be used to their best potential in showing the intensity of deprivation in areas such as Lewisham or Barking & Dagenham.

To stimulate the reader, Hamnett not only uses graphical evidence, but uses media headlines, evidence from films and quotes from books to illustrate his points. These make the book "lighter" reading and more enjoyable for students, or members of the general educated public, but perhaps at the expense of the in-depth analysis required by academics. Academics may find the book too broad and general, as it fails to look greatly at any one specific aspect of the inequalities. He also refers to high profile news stories, such as the Damilola Taylor case as evidence of social deprivation and crime, which helps the reader to sympathise with Hamnett's arguments.

The book is recommended for students of geography, sociology and economics as it draws together a vast array of sources and arguments under one cover. The well referenced bibliography provides many sources for further reading. The book is also suitable for reading by the educated general public (especially for those residing in London) who may find Hamnett's analysis of London enjoyable, interesting and challenging. The book is very current, and hopefully new, updated editions will be released over the coming years to allow readers to keep up with the latest changes in areas such as the rapidly changing housing market. Overall, the book is a clear, stimulating read which is good value for money.

Unequal City
Been on my to read list since I bought a copy in January 2004. One of the core texts for the courses offered as part of the Contemporary London studies programme at Birkbeck College. I would recommend it for anybody who is interested in the political,economic and social theories that drive London.