Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West - William Cronon

Nature’s Metropolis demonstrates the relationship between the rise of Chicago and the transformation of the geography and resources which compose its “hinterland.” William Cronon has exhaustively researched and provided a cogent and fluid retelling of Chicago's meteoric rise to national and international prominence. For Cronon, the story of the city's growth rests at the intersection of what he calls first and second natures - being the difference between the resources and geography of the natural world and the manner in which humans build economies of scale and infrastructure to funnel people, resources, and capital towards certain locations and away from others.

With the construction of the railroads, Chicago became the crossroads where the "Great West" met the consumer markets of the East Coast. Coming from the West, Chicago would be the organizing port-of-call for wheat, timber, and livestock to be shipped eastward and even to Europe. In return, these markets redistributed the goods desired by urban and hinterland inhabitants; resources supporting the good and civilized life in the country as well as the city. The urban meeting point, and the crucial economies of scale it fostered, meant that Chicago merchants profited immensely from the volume of wealth passing through the city daily. Key to such capital flows was the further growth of the city's infrastructure, which further concentrated wealth and resources along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.


Cronon has accomplished a difficult task in tying the growth of the city to the hinterland and making a clear argument that city and country must be understood together. The economies of second nature are overlain upon first nature and transform organisms into resources. All of these flow across the landscape, interacting via the market and with one another to transform the Great West into the urban hinterland.