Urban Specialization in the World-System

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Abstract
In the history of urban sociology in the United States, much of urban-growth theory has been limited to a national level of analysis. From classical-location to uneven-development theories, conceptualization of urban growth has been contained mainly in regional or national frameworks. But in many cases, involvement in the capitalist world-economy has been a source of major urban development. Many major cities grow during certain periods mainly because of a specific function they play in the capital-accumulation circuits of the world-system. That is, some cities grow as the world-system grows because they have specialized in some function of capital accumulation, for example, as producers or as financial markets, and thus fit a specific niche in the world-economy. Taking a world-system perspective as a necessary level of analysis for understanding major urban growth, the discussion in this article elaborates on the concept of urban specialization, offers case studies of urban growth through a specialization niche, and compares the development of specialization from the standpoint of the three stages of capitalist development (mercantile, industrial, and monopoly) in which the cases are situated.

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