The Social Ecology of the Post-Fordist/Global City? Economic Restructuring and Socio-spatial Polarisation in the Toronto Urban Region

Numerous authors have asserted that globalisation and occupational changes associated with post-Fordist economic restructuring have led to a growth in intraurban social disparity and even polarisation. This hypothesis is most consistently articulated in the literature on global cities. However, the social effects of post-Fordist economic restructuring and the interplay between occupational changes and social and spatial factors within urban areas are not well understood. This paper seeks to provide an initial investigation into processes of socioeconomic change which may be presently ocurring within cities, and to model how such processes may be articulated within urban space. To gauge the impact of occupational restructuring on the social structure of the city, and to test the assertion that economic changes are related to increased polarisation, shifts in occupation, immigration and income variables in the urban region of Toronto, Canada, are examined. The patterns of social and spatial change occurring between 1971 ands 1991 are plottted and the possible tendencies towards increasing polarisation are analysed and discussed.