ABSTRACT
The dependent metropolis is among the largest and fastest growing in the world. The inequalities of dependent capitalism find expression in two urban dimensions: inter-metropolitan inequalities; and intra-metropolitan inequalities. The dependent economy revolves around the export of commodities and capital. The urban land market plays a disproportionately large role in the economies of dependent capitalist countries. The dependent metropolis evolved from the colonial city, but with the culmination of the revolutions against colonialism the colonial cities experienced a revolutionary change. Latin America's metropolitan areas grew as centres of national capital whose growth has always been dependent on US tutelage. The metropolitan structure in dependent countries is fundamentally shaped by the international division of labour. Governments have had to make investments that reinforce the existing division of labour and dependent urban structure. The owners of capital allow the dependent metropolis to grow spontaneously, without public investments that would be required in the metropolis of the developed world.
