The New Factory, the New City, and an Expanded Idea of Urban Ecology

This paper puts a transformed building type, the contemporary factory, into a theoretical framework that is guiding a larger research program concerning the city as a locus for value-added production. These ideas are being tested with research in London, including historic investigations of the geography and architecture of furniture and manufacture, and in Portland, looking at the establishment of small manufacturing firms, with products such as bicycles, outdoor clothing, and food. Using mapping, historic directories, interviews, and architectural analysis, the work is leading to representations that combine physical and economic pictures of urban districts and building characterized by small manufacturing firms.

keywords: Urban Production, Urban Ecology, London, Portland, Factories