The Downtown Strategic Plan for Los Angeles and Models of Political Economy
This paper will discuss the Downtown Strategic Plan for Los Angeles through two different political economy models. The first part of the paper will examine some of the most important parts of the two models under discussion, the marketism and the Marxian models. The second part of the paper will analyze the most important parts of the DSP through the framework of these two models. The third part of the paper will discuss the virtues and vices of planning in light of the preceding analysis.
The two models under discussion in this paper, the marketism and Marxian models, are often considered to be diametrically opposed to each other. The marketism model stresses the functioning of economic markets within a society. These markets are themselves considered to be the driving force in the society, providing not only the economic basis for the community but also the regulating force for the community. The focus of the this model is on the local and regional levels of a political community, where the market forces regulate society. Although the basis for marketism rests in the idea that society is best regulated by the forces of the market, the model rejects any real study of these forces. The "market" functions best when it is left alone; it is basically a "natural force" which works without intervention. Consequently, marketism is a normative model in which the basic "good" is the natural functioning of the market. The government of a society must direct its efforts towards preserving this good, rather than intervening in the workings of a society for some independently perceived goal. Each society functions on its own, although it is tied to other societies in a global market. The marketism model is functional, rather than structural, since the most important aspect of a society is the functioning of its markets, not its structure. Likewise, th...