The Sociability and Morality of Market Settlements

Handbook of Creative Cities, David Emanuel Andersson, Åke E. Andersson, and Charlotta Mellander, eds., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011

17 Pages Posted: 19 Jan 2013

See all articles by Arielle John

Arielle John

George Mason University - Department of Economics; George Mason University - Mercatus Center

Virgil Henry Storr

George Mason University - Department of Economics; George Mason University - Mercatus Center; University of Arizona Center for the Philosophy of Freedom

Date Written: October 31, 2011

Abstract

Since at least Max Weber, social scientists have looked closely at the nexus between markets and cities. Weber believed that cities and markets were inextricably linked. In his seminal work Economy & Society, for instance, Weber ([1921] 1978, p. 1213) describes the city as a market settlement. As he writes, 'a city...is always a market centre. It has a local market which forms the economic centre of the settlement and on which both the non-urban population and the townsmen satisfy their wants for craft products or trade articles by means of exchange.' The difference between a city and other settlements, then, is the existence of a market rather than the size of the population, or the type of dwellings, or the nature of the social activities that occur, or any other criteria that we might use. Although Weber's centrally located marketplaces have long since been replaced by malls and shopping plazas and high-rise business districts and swanky shopping streets, market activity is still at the centre of city life.

Suggested Citation

John, Arielle and Storr, Virgil Henry and Storr, Virgil Henry, The Sociability and Morality of Market Settlements (October 31, 2011). Handbook of Creative Cities, David Emanuel Andersson, Åke E. Andersson, and Charlotta Mellander, eds., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2203026

Arielle John

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

HOME PAGE: http://asp.mercatus.org/scholars/arielle-john

Virgil Henry Storr (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Department of Economics ( email )

4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA 22030
United States

HOME PAGE: http://virgilstorr.org/

George Mason University - Mercatus Center ( email )

3434 Washington Blvd., 4th Floor
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

HOME PAGE: http://virgilstorr.org/

University of Arizona Center for the Philosophy of Freedom ( email )

Department of History
Tucson, AZ 85721
United States

HOME PAGE: http://virgilstorr.org/

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