The metropolitan-hinterland thesis (or centre-periphery thesis) theory of social and economic development, developed by the Canadian historian

Harold Innis Harold Adams Innis (November 5, 1894 – November 9, 1952) was a Canadian professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on media, communication theory, and Canadian economic history. He helped devel ...

examines how economically advanced societies, through trade and colonialism, distort and impede economic development of less developed societies and regions. A

metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big c ...

is identified as the centre of political and economic power. It possesses a more advanced labor market, more skilled and educated workers, an abundance of value-added production, higher standard of living, etc. A

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

does not have the resources to withstand the political and economic interference of the metropolis. It features an abundance of resource extraction industries, fewer skilled and educated workers and a lower standard of living, and in many ways, it emulates the culture of the metropolis. The metropolis-hinterland

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

has generally been applied to the relationship between Great Britain and its New World colonies. But it has also been applied to the relationship between industrial and rural regions within

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Under the theory, the western Canadian provinces (BC, Alberta,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

) are a hinterland to the political and economic forces of central Canada (Ontario and Quebec).

Metropolitan thesis

The metropolitan thesis is one of the dominant schools in Canadian historiography. The basic argument of the school states that the driving force in Canadian history has been the nation's

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

s. These originally included the imperial capitals of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(before 1763) and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(after 1763); and finally the Canadian centres of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in the modern era. The roots of the metropolitan thesis are found in the writing of

, one of Canada's most respected historians. Innis' ''The Fur Trade in Canada'', as well as his work on the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

, put forward the idea that geography, commerce, and

resource exploitation The exploitation of natural resources is the use of natural resources for economic growth, sometimes with a negative connotation of accompanying environmental degradation. It started to emerge on an industrial scale in the 19th century as the ext ...

were the driving forces of Canadian history. The urban centres of

and

provided the impetus for the growth and formation of the Canadian nation. This is the Staple Thesis. After Innis,

Donald Creighton Donald Grant Creighton (15 July 1902 – 19 December 1979) was a Canadian historian whose major works include ''The Commercial Empire of the St-Lawrence, 1760–1850'' (first published in 1937), a detailed study on the growth of the English merch ...

in his ''The Empire of the St. Lawrence'' argued that the massive waterway of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

and its connections across the continent "became the basis of an extensive communication system around which Canada itself took shape." This is the Laurentian thesis. The common trend in the historical roots of the metropolitan thesis is its opposition to the Frontier Thesis put forward by

Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thes ...

to explain the forces behind

American history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

. The first articulation of the metropolitan thesis occurred in 1954, with an article in the ''Canadian Historical Review'' by historian J. M. S. Careless entitled ''Frontierism, Metropolitanism, and Canadian History''. Careless argues that the developing eastern centres of commerce and industry controlled and oversaw the development of the Canadian nation. The metropolitan school studied "the effects of the East on the West, and largely regarded businessmen and conservative urban political elements as agents of national expansion who might well be more far-sighted in their outlook than were their agrarian opponents."Careless, J. M. S (March 1964) ''Frontierism, Metropolitanism, and Canadian History'' The Canadian Historical Review 35 No 1 pp. 16

References

External links

Metropolitan-Hinterland Thesis - Canadian Encyclopedia
Economic geography {{Econ-stub Harold Innis