ABSTRACT
In the 1970s and 1980s, urbanists working within the tradition of a Marxist political economy transformed our thinking about the spatial structure of the city. It was argued that urban form must be theorized in relation to the concept mode of production. This chapter reviews the major theories developed over the last 15 years to explain the relationship between the spatial structure of the capitalist city and the capitalist mode of production.1 In particular, the chapter focuses on the way in which urban form reflects, and helps reproduce, a basic social relationship in capitalist society: that of class. In exploring the links between class, reproduction, and the spatial structure of the city, this chapter demonstrates the importance of extending critical social theory into the realms of urban social geography. Not only do social processes shape the city, urban spatial structures also shape capitalist social relations.
