Relational Cities: Doha, Panama City, and Dubai as 21st Century EntrepÔts

Abstract

In a dynamic global economy, emergent configurations of capitalist production produce novel spatial assemblages and correspondingly unique geometries of power. The “global cities” literature frames these transformative processes in terms of hierarchical world urban systems, providing a clear theoretical path to understanding the local implications of global spatial restructuring. This article develops the concept of the “relational city” as a transnational urbanist approach to understanding a particular subset of cities that are emblematic of the spatial transformations manifest through advanced capitalism. Relational cities are those constituted through globally critical flows of capital, goods, and ideas, and whose economies are dedicated to intermediary services such as offshore banking, container- and bulk-shipping, and regional re-exportation. Similar to gateway cities and entrepôts, relational cities are found eccentrically at one end of a fan-shaped network, connecting the global economy with a regional economic matrix. Drawing upon Doha, Dubai, and Panama City as illustrative case studies, this article suggests a new way of understanding urban change in a global context while simultaneously moving beyond the recurrent focus on the top-tier financial world cities of the Global North.