Rewriting the history of port cities in the light of contemporary global Capitalism

Abstract

Ports have historically functioned as both spatial mediums shaping coreperiphery relations and as spatial terrains for flows of people, goods, and ideas. Such flows have been fundamentally shaped by commercial relations, which has also created new lifestyles and in turn changed the built form of urban space, demonstrating the intricate relationship that has always existed between social structure and the physical form of port cities. Ports have also functioned as key sites for the integration of empires into the world economy with their commercial networks which have created new types of interaction. Through these interactions, different groups have integrated with each other and extended their communities by making them mobile. Language, ethnicity, religion, and family ties have determined the communal and commercial ties in port cities, 1 and