The Neoliberal City - by Jason Hackworth (Paperback)

About the Book

The shift in the ideological winds toward a "free-market" economy has brought profound effects in urban areas. The Neoliberal City presents an overview of the effect of these changes on today's cities. The term "neoliberalism" was originally used in...

Book Synopsis

The shift in the ideological winds toward a "free-market" economy has brought profound effects in urban areas. The Neoliberal City presents an overview of the effect of these changes on today's cities. The term "neoliberalism" was originally used in reference to a set of practices that first-world institutions like the IMF and World Bank impose on third-world countries and cities. The support of unimpeded trade and individual freedoms and the discouragement of state regulation and social spending are the putative centerpieces of this vision. More and more, though, people have come to recognize that first-world cities are undergoing the same processes.

In The Neoliberal City, Jason Hackworth argues that neoliberal policies are in fact having a profound effect on the nature and direction of urbanization in the United States and other wealthy countries, and that much can be learned from studying its effect. He explores the impact that neoliberalism has had on three aspects of urbanization in the United States: governance, urban form, and social movements. The American inner city is seen as a crucial battle zone for the wider neoliberal transition primarily because it embodies neoliberalism's antithesis, Keynesian egalitarian liberalism.

Focusing on issues such as gentrification in New York City; public-housing policy in New York, Chicago, and Seattle; downtown redevelopment in Phoenix; and urban-landscape change in New Brunswick, N.J., Hackworth shows us how material and symbolic changes to institutions, neighborhoods, and entire urban regions can be traced in part to the rise of neoliberalism.

Review Quotes

"Drawing from geography, urban studies, and political science, The Neoliberal City is a good introduction to many debates in those disciplines and to some important arguments about the neoliberal city. Jason Hackworth's discussion of liberalism and neoliberalism is particularly valuable for its clarity and because it provides a punchy and well-argued account of the intellectual development of neoliberalism. By focusing on the roles of bond-rating agencies, real-estate agents, developers, and public housing authorities, Jason Hackworth successfully reveals the internal processes of neoliberalism in action."

"In this fascinating book, Jason Hackworth explores the new geographies of inequality, exclusion and displacement that have been forged within U.S. cities during the last three decades of worldwide urban restructuring. Written in an accessible style and grounded upon an impressive assemblage of empirical evidence, The Neoliberal City will be an essential resource for anyone concerned to decipher the contemporary urban condition in the United States. The book provides, simultaneously, a serious engagement with key strands of contemporary critical urban theory, an illuminating exploration of several spheres of contemporary urban restructuring and a nuanced analysis of on-the-ground sociospatial changes and struggles in several major U.S. cities. The book will become an essential reference point in future debates on the nature of neoliberalized urbanization and in ongoing scholarly efforts to decipher the restlessly changing landscape of post-Keynesian urbanization both in the USA and beyond."

"Jason Hackworth grounds theories of neoliberalism in an astute analysis of urban governance, urban development, and social movements in cities. His empirical studies demonstrate that neoliberal processes are more contingent and more context-sensitive than abstract theorizations might suggest. The Neoliberal City makes a persuasive case that it is hard to understand contemporary cities without a more nuanced view of neoliberalism."

About the Author

Jason Hackworth is Associate Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto.