Discuss

Read for mechanisms, not details: You do not need to absorb every historical description in Engels or every theoretical nuance in Marx.

Instead, ask: What problem is capitalism trying to solve here? How does the city help solve it? Who benefits, and who bears the cost?

Also – make sure to read the attached Lecture Notes before and after reading the assigned texts.

2) Pair the readings intentionally: Read them in this order:

Engels to see lived urban conditions

Marx to understand why those conditions persist

Zoning in NYC to see institutionalized control

East New York case to see the conflict play out today

Each reading answers a different part of the same question.

3) For your discussion post: Avoid summary and assume your classmates have read the texts.

Instead: E.g.. You can pick one concept (surplus population, zoning, displacement, accumulation) and trace it across at least two readings. Or you can use the East New York case as a grounding example and end your post with a real question something unresolved, troubling, or confusing that invites others into the conversation.

For your initial post, respond to at least TWO of the following prompts.

Draw directly on the readings and avoid summary. Focus on concepts, mechanisms, and connections across texts.

1. Urbanization as a Capitalist Strategy

Engels and Marx argue that capitalism produces urban wealth and poverty simultaneously. How does urbanization help capitalism function? What problems does the city solve for capital, and what problems does it create for workers?

2. From Chaos to Control

How does zoning change the formbut not necessarily the logicof capitalist urbanization? Compare Engels industrial cities with NYCs zoning framework. What seems to improve through planning, and what remains structurally the same?

3. East New York as Political Economy

Using Engels or Marx, analyze the East New York rezoning debate. What does this case reveal about displacement, surplus populations, and the role of the state in contemporary urban development?

4. The Right to Stay Put

Based on this weeks readings, is displacement an unintended outcome of developmentor a structural feature of capitalist cities? Why?

End your post with one question you want your peers (or me) to engage with.