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.
