The Role of Corporations in the Transformation of a North Carolina Urban Landscape

Abstract

Perhaps no North Carolina city has experienced as great a transition as Charlotte over the past 15 years. Since 1990 the city has transformed itself from one dominated by low-wage manufacturing and distribution industries into one of the nation's preeminent banking centers. This transformation has led to the creation of 175,000 jobs in Mecklenburg county, nearly 20% of the state's total. Much of this growth germinates from two local firms that are now among the state's largest employers, Bank of America and \X'achovia. Charlotte's two banks actively guided local urban redevelopment in order to enhance their competitive position in the global economy.