UC Berkeley

Why do some regions forge ahead while others do not? Regional divergence has been a central question within regional economic development since the 1990s. In California, there has been a growing divide between the income levels of the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles as well as within these regions – between the urban core and the periphery. This dissertation examines regional divergence in the context of the growth of e-commerce and warehousing on the exurban periphery in California. New growth industries, such as transportation and warehousing, provide hope that well-paid job opportunities will be provided for residents in regions with limited economic opportunities. However, there is no guarantee that “good jobs” will be provided. This study explores how the concentration of warehouses within the exurban periphery complicates theories of industrial and retail agglomeration. In this mixed-methods study, I focus on two regions in California that contain over 50% of California’s employment in warehousing and storage: the Inland Empire and San Joaquin County. These two regions are located on the exurban periphery of California’s two largest metropolitan areas; Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. I study the spatial distribution of e-commerce and warehousing at various geographic scales, from the neighborhood to the regional scale, as well as the local politics at the city level. Through quantitative analysis of Amazon warehouse locations across the United States, I show that the class and racial composition of neighborhoods come together to shape disparate exposure to Amazon warehouses and the environmental and congestion costs they create, and demonstrate that the unequal impacts are not confined to California. I utilize descriptive spatial analysis of online retail expenditure data, employment and demographic data to illustrate the asymmetrical relationship between the urban core – a site of retail consumption – and the exurban periphery – a site of the production and reproduction of warehouse labor. Using city tax revenue data and comprehensive annual financial reports, I argue that competition for sales tax revenue is no longer confined to local retail catchments but is now occurring at a regional scale across California. I also examine how planners justify rezonings of agricultural and residential land to industrial for the purpose of warehouse development. I demonstrate that planners utilize value judgements which prioritize job creation and revenue generation, reflecting broader dynamics of the fiscalization of land use in California. Through this dissertation, I propose an emerging location theory for e-commerce which draws together the findings of my analysis of the spatial distribution and political economy of warehouse development in California. With the rise of e-commerce, a new physical form of retail has emerged – warehousing – that has different locational requirements, physical impacts and jobs. Previously, retail concentrated in urban and suburban centers, and in California cities would compete with neighboring cities to attract shopping centers that would serve local consumers. My research highlights a new regional dynamic of the fiscalization of land use where city competition for warehouse jobs and tax revenue is occurring at a larger, regional scale across California. I argue that the growth of warehousing is reinforcing existing dynamics of uneven development between the urban core, as a center for online retail consumption, and the exurban periphery, as a site of the production and reproduction of warehouse labor. More broadly, I highlight the economic development implications of going “all in” on warehouse development.