The Impact of Political Annexation on Urban Primacy: A natural experiment on Mexico City testing the institutional origins of primacy

George Wilkinson; Fiona Haslam McKenzie; Julian Bolleter

doi:10.5614/jpwk.2022.33.2.6

The Impact of Political Annexation on Urban Primacy: A natural experiment on Mexico City testing the institutional origins of primacy

George Wilkinson, Fiona Haslam McKenzie, Julian Bolleter

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Institutional theories of urban primacy suggest centralized urbanization can be decentralized through political reform. Despite this potential, rectifying primacy and its attendant inefficiencies attracts sporadic interest. Perhaps this is because the disruption of primacy is rarely observed, rendering the potential of decentralization a nebulous concept. Missing cities are a defining feature of primacy yet rarely figure in empirical cost-benefit analyses. To explore this dimension, we examine the history of urbanization in a large country renowned for primacy before and after it was invaded and divided into two countries. In the invaded part of the country, we observe the disruption of primacy following the transformation of political institutions, highlighting the importance of addressing institutions in the redress of urban primacy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	96-114
Number of pages	19
Journal	Journal of Regional and City Planning
Volume	33
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5614/jpwk.2022.33.2.6
Publication status	Published - 27 Aug 2022

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10.5614/jpwk.2022.33.2.6

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title = "The Impact of Political Annexation on Urban Primacy: A natural experiment on Mexico City testing the institutional origins of primacy",

abstract = "Institutional theories of urban primacy suggest centralized urbanization can be decentralized through political reform. Despite this potential, rectifying primacy and its attendant inefficiencies attracts sporadic interest. Perhaps this is because the disruption of primacy is rarely observed, rendering the potential of decentralization a nebulous concept. Missing cities are a defining feature of primacy yet rarely figure in empirical cost-benefit analyses. To explore this dimension, we examine the history of urbanization in a large country renowned for primacy before and after it was invaded and divided into two countries. In the invaded part of the country, we observe the disruption of primacy following the transformation of political institutions, highlighting the importance of addressing institutions in the redress of urban primacy.",

keywords = "Capital cities, institutional economics, Mexico City, primacy disruption, urban primacy, urbanization",

author = "George Wilkinson and McKenzie, {Fiona Haslam} and Julian Bolleter",

note = "Funding Information: Despite centuries of shared history, economic development in the southwest United States stands in stark contrast with that of northern Mexico. The same environmental barriers that had isolated and stymied the region under Mexican control were overcome in large part due to the implementation by American federal, state, and local governments of major works of infrastructure that secured water supplies and critical services. For example, federal loan programs, such as the US National Reclamation Act of 1902, funded irrigation projects in the west, including the Theodore Roosevelt Dam in Arizona in 1911; municipal bonds funded local projects like the Los Angeles Aqueduct (1913); and federal grants financed projects like the Hoover Dam in Nevada. These three examples paved the way for large-scale, rapid urbanization in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas respectively. Furthermore, the Americans{\textquoteright} strong appetite to embark upon such investments was fed by a different national imagination, one inspired by Manifest Destiny, the belief that the United States was destined to spread its civilization from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 ITB Institute for Research and Community Services.",

year = "2022",

month = aug,

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doi = "10.5614/jpwk.2022.33.2.6",

language = "English",

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journal = "Journal of Regional and City Planning",

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T1 - The Impact of Political Annexation on Urban Primacy

T2 - A natural experiment on Mexico City testing the institutional origins of primacy

AU - Wilkinson, George

AU - McKenzie, Fiona Haslam

AU - Bolleter, Julian

N1 - Funding Information: Despite centuries of shared history, economic development in the southwest United States stands in stark contrast with that of northern Mexico. The same environmental barriers that had isolated and stymied the region under Mexican control were overcome in large part due to the implementation by American federal, state, and local governments of major works of infrastructure that secured water supplies and critical services. For example, federal loan programs, such as the US National Reclamation Act of 1902, funded irrigation projects in the west, including the Theodore Roosevelt Dam in Arizona in 1911; municipal bonds funded local projects like the Los Angeles Aqueduct (1913); and federal grants financed projects like the Hoover Dam in Nevada. These three examples paved the way for large-scale, rapid urbanization in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas respectively. Furthermore, the Americans’ strong appetite to embark upon such investments was fed by a different national imagination, one inspired by Manifest Destiny, the belief that the United States was destined to spread its civilization from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 ITB Institute for Research and Community Services.

PY - 2022/8/27

Y1 - 2022/8/27

N2 - Institutional theories of urban primacy suggest centralized urbanization can be decentralized through political reform. Despite this potential, rectifying primacy and its attendant inefficiencies attracts sporadic interest. Perhaps this is because the disruption of primacy is rarely observed, rendering the potential of decentralization a nebulous concept. Missing cities are a defining feature of primacy yet rarely figure in empirical cost-benefit analyses. To explore this dimension, we examine the history of urbanization in a large country renowned for primacy before and after it was invaded and divided into two countries. In the invaded part of the country, we observe the disruption of primacy following the transformation of political institutions, highlighting the importance of addressing institutions in the redress of urban primacy.

AB - Institutional theories of urban primacy suggest centralized urbanization can be decentralized through political reform. Despite this potential, rectifying primacy and its attendant inefficiencies attracts sporadic interest. Perhaps this is because the disruption of primacy is rarely observed, rendering the potential of decentralization a nebulous concept. Missing cities are a defining feature of primacy yet rarely figure in empirical cost-benefit analyses. To explore this dimension, we examine the history of urbanization in a large country renowned for primacy before and after it was invaded and divided into two countries. In the invaded part of the country, we observe the disruption of primacy following the transformation of political institutions, highlighting the importance of addressing institutions in the redress of urban primacy.

KW - Capital cities

KW - institutional economics

KW - Mexico City

KW - primacy disruption

KW - urban primacy

KW - urbanization

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The Impact of Political Annexation on Urban Primacy: A natural experiment on Mexico City testing the institutional origins of primacy

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