ABSTRACT
Mercantilism has been replaced as the mode of production in much of the world by industrial capitalism, a system characterized by the alienation of labour and by capitalist investment in work rather than in goods to be traded. Although, apart from those areas identified in Chapter 2 which are now organized under some form of state capitalism, industrial capitalism dominates the international economy, in many parts of the world mercantile operations are still the most numerous. Many of the major impacts of industrial capitalism, including those reflected in urban systems, are concentrated in a few countries only. As a consequence, mercantile urban features still prevail in many areas and the industrial urban system, in almost all cases superimposed on mercantile frameworks, is not a dominant feature on a world scale.
