McKenzie, Rex and Koutny, Christian (2024) Theorising the hyper-capitalist urban node : financial capitalism and urban transformation in twenty-first century London. (Working Paper) SocArXiv. 27 p.

Abstract

This paper develops the concept of the hyper-capitalist urban node (HCUN) as a new theoretical framework for understanding how financial capitalism transforms contemporary cities. Through systematic analysis of London's economic, social, and technological changes from 1992 to 2023, we demonstrate that global financial centres have evolved beyond established models of the global city. Drawing on comprehensive longitudinal data, we identify six distinctive characteristics of HCUNs: financial sector dominance, extreme income polarisation, housing financialisation, the political-financial nexus, technological acceleration, and social-spatial transformation. London's empirical evidence demonstrates how these characteristics manifest in concrete terms through dramatic shifts in employment structure, housing markets, income distribution, and spatial organisation. We argue that HCUNs represent not merely a quantitative intensification of existing urban processes, but rather a qualitative shift in how cities function within global capitalism. The analysis reveals fundamental contradictions within the HCUN model, explaining why conventional urban policies often fail to achieve their intended outcomes. Through this research, we advance both theoretical understanding of contemporary urban transformation and methodological approaches to studying it, including the development of the HCUN Index. Our findings demonstrate the need for fundamental innovation in urban theory and governance to address the distinctive challenges posed by financial capitalism's intensifying influence over urban development.

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