The Rescaling Process of the Capitalist State and Its Attendant Challenges in Theorizing the Urban Policy Process

Abstract

This chapter does not pretend to offer an exhaustive treatment of the state rescaling process under capitalism. However, it introduces the operational logic of the capitalist state as a backdrop to understand the rescaling process, which, beginning from Manuel Castells' notion of the ‘urban question', has radicalized and sired a plethora of theoretical developments in urban theory. The essay brings the concept of governance onto the scene and argues that the gaps, layers, and hierarchies created as a result of state reorganization can be understood if the notion of urban governance is successfully unpacked. In analysing the challenges that the rescaling process brings to theorising the urban policy process, the distinct phases of the policy process were analysed with reference to urban-rural mobility and public transportation, while giving credence to certain examples and experiences across Nigerian cities.