The Global Context of Metropolitan Growth: Houston and the Oil Industry

This paper examines in empirical detail the growth and development of Houston, the "capital of the Sunbelt," against the background of the changes in its economic and social base since the late 1800s. Houston's century-long sustained growth, unique centrality in Sunblet expansion and in the world oil market, and commitment to an accentuated free enterprise philosophy make it an important urban case study in assessing the explanatory utility of mainstream and power-conflict theories of urban development, particularly those theories aimed at explaining the rise of Sunbelt cities. The global context of urban growth is accented in this analysis.