Accumulation, Spatial Policies, and the Production of Regional Labour Reserves: A Study of Washington New Town

Abstract

It has recently been argued by Damette that regional labour reserves have come to occupy a central role in the accumulation process as a source of surplus profits. Moreover, the State has increasingly become involved in creating such reserves via its spatial policies, often with unintended results in relation to the stated aims of these policies. These general propositions are explored in this paper via an investigation of some aspects of the development of Washington New Town, considering in turn the policy context in which the proposals for the New Town emerged, the mechanisms involved in producing labour reserves there, and the results of developing the town in relation to the employment objectives specified for it.