Location of manufacturing activity in cities

Abstract

This paper offers a theoretical interpretation of the evolution of the pattern of manufacturing location within cities. First, it explains the concentration of location around the center and the transport modes of 19th century cities by using Weber's theory of the location of competitive industries. A variety of empirical evidence about the 20th-century dispersal of manufacturing is reviewed. This dispersal is then interpreted as a consequence of the evolution of monopoly (or corporate) capitalism, particularly the standardization of production and the dispersal of workers. © 1982 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.