Uneven Reproduction

The main theme addressed in this book is the relationship between industry, space and society. The discussion links two traditional and allied areas of concern the location of industry and uneven development; a new dimension is added through a consideration of the industrial built environment and its forms. The particular form of industrial development that provides the focus for the analysis presented here is the most popular form of industrial development the world over - the industrial estate, business park, or science park. Paradoxically, until now, industrial estates have attracted cursory interest from researchers. The arguments developed in this book have a far wider purchase than the industrial estate as they relate to the creation and use of the industrial built environment more generally. The book argues for a radical reconsideration of the problem of industrial location and development. A central concern of the book is with theory and method; more specifically the possibilities of using critical realism to inform this task. Critical realism - a much talked about but little applied methodology - is developed in a novel and explicit way in this book.
In addition to offering an analysis of the development of industrial estates, it highlights the possibility of linking industrial location and uneven development through an analysis of the production of built spaces. This book will be of interest to all of those in the social sciences concerned with the development of critical realism as a practical research tool; to those - such as geographers, planners and economic sociologists - researching and studying the linked issues of industrial location and uneven spatial development.