ancient cities

638 Red-Light District
global and local dimensions. The growing openness
of the world economy has paved the way for
some integration of real estate markets. The prominent
example is that of the Canadian firm,
Olympia & York, which during the 1980s conceived
and pursued major real estate complexes in
New York (Battery Park City) and in London
(Canary Wharf). On the other hand, property markets
and particularly property development is a
local business, which is segmented even at the city
and metropolitan scales. Property developers tend
to work in specific places, those that are most familiar
to them. For example, suburban developers tend
to work in the suburbs and within the suburban
realm in several specific locations. On the other
hand, downtown developers rarely engage in
development outside the downtown.
Conclusion
The urban fabric of our cities is made of numerous
real estate properties having different shape, architecture,
and meaning. Tall office buildings like the
Empire State Building and Sears Tower define their
cities’ skylines, shopping centers are the definitive
consumer spaces, and houses make neighborhoods
and residential landscapes. In spite of being largely
a local business, real estate development has made
cities look more alike. It follows fundamental rules
enhanced by the spread of capitalism and thus
increases the tendency of cities to converge.
Igal Charney
See also Developer; Growth Machine; Land
Development; Rent Theory; Urban Economics; Urban
Planning
Further Readings
Ball, M. 1996. “London and Property Markets: A Longterm
View.” Urban Studies 33:859–77.
Beauregard, R. 2005. “The Textures of Property Markets:
Downtown Housing and Office Conversion in New
York City.” Urban Studies 42:2431–45.
Fainstein, S. 2001. The City Builders: Property, Politics,
and Planning in New York and London, 1980–2000.
Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Feagin, J. R. and R. Parker. 1990. Building American
Cities: The Urban Real Estate Game. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Harvey, D. 1985. The Urbanization of Capital: Studies in
the History and Theory of Capitalist Urbanization.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
MacLaran, A. 2003. Making Space: Property Development
and Urban Planning. London: Edward Arnold.
Re d-li g h t di S t R i c t
Red-light districts are areas in cities or towns that
are themed around sex. They consist of clusters of
activities or individuals and can be widely known
outside the immediate area. The definition of redlight
district has varied by place and time. They
may be characterized by prostitution alone, but
some districts have few or no visible prostitutes
and consist of entertainment or other services.
They can be characterized by entertainment of a
sexual nature or by ancillary services related to
sex, including the sale of books and videos, sexual
aids, and clothing of a sexual nature.
The origin of the term is uncertain, but even
today, districts in some cities, such as Amsterdam,
are characterized by red lights in shop windows
occupied by prostitutes, which are lit to indicate that
the shop occupant is working, but busy. The nature
of the district depends on the cultural and legal context.
In some countries and cities, prostitution is
legal, but authorities restrict open prostitution to just
a few areas. In others, it is tolerated but illegal, and
in some, it is strictly forbidden. Red-light districts
have often been associated with ports, railway and
bus terminals, or hotel districts, particularly those
visited by large numbers of single males.
Historical Development
Throughout history, red-light districts have been
features of cities. For example, in seventeenth-
century Japan, the Tokugawa Shogunate created
special districts for prostitution in cities, including
Yoshiwara in Tokyo, Shimbara in Kyoto, and
Shinmachi in Osaka. By the end of the nineteenth
century, the one in Tokyo had some 9,000 women;
it finally closed in the 1950s. Sociologists and their
precursors have written about red-light districts
since the nineteenth century. In 1925, Park and
Burgess included a “vice zone” in their description
of Chicago. Red-light districts were (and are) often