Global Cities as Sites of Neo-Fordist Production

Since the thesis on disorganised capitalism by Lash and Urry (1987), the question of urban organisation that would be taking shape in the wake of the transition to post-Fordism remains relevant to the extent that cities as built, lived and imagined structures remain long after the last large-scale production plant or compound becomes reclaimed for cultural, entertainment or museum purposes. Different, less pre-programmed structures than those of organised capitalism replace the urban legacy of Fordist capitalism that as Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis would have it remains around, albeit in socialised forms of everyday life such as consumption spaces, communication infrastructures or interaction routines. Fordism as a product of standardisation, optimisation and replication may have had its day in its recognisable forms of Western brand-name corporations churning out durable goods. However, global cities as sites of post-Fordist production do seem to be sites of every bit as Fordist production organised around leisure, brands, and spaces. What has changed is the higher share of unpredictable elements that are being put under the same standardising, optimising and replicating pressures as were products of organised capitalism. Urban infrastructure appears to be a perennial frontrunner of world-city makeover. Rather than blue-collar workers moving from one square of shop-floor to another, it is laptop toting creatives who zip though urban space in a factory without walls of post-Fordism. Exactly identical Starbucks environments greet globetrotters within the geography of global cities. Streamlined ergonomic design of airports seems to spread to multi-storey shopping malls, railway terminals and urban campuses. Google mail promises to turn into a full-fledged office interface, while Amazon's marriage of everyday life and shopping interfaces crosses international borders. Disorganisation seems to be actually on the wane, as far as everyday life is concerned. It seems that different kinds of organization and lack of it are at stake.