10th Edition

Urban Politics Cities and Suburbs in a Global Age

By Myron A. Levine Copyright 2020
    532 Pages
    by Routledge

    532 Pages
    by Routledge

    Urban Politics blends the most insightful classic and current political science and related literature with current issues in urban affairs. The book’s integrative theme is ‘power,’ demonstrating that the study of urban politics requires an analysist to look beyond the formal institutions and procedures of local government. The book also develops important subthemes: the impact of globalization; the dominance of economic development over competing local policy concerns; the continuing importance of race in the urban arena; local government activism versus the ‘limits’ imposed on local action by the American constitutional system and economic competition; and the impact of national and state government action on cities. Urban Politics engages students with pragmatic case studies and boxed material that use classic and current urban films and TV shows to illustrate particular aspects of urban politics. The book’s substantial concluding discussion of local policies for environmental sustainability and green cities also appeals to today’s students. Each chapter has been thoroughly rewritten to clearly relate the content to current events and academic literature, including the following:

    • the importance of the intergovernmental city

    • the role of local governments as active policy actors and vital policy makers even in areas outside traditional municipal policy concerns

    • the prospects for urban policy and change in and beyond the Trump administration, including the ways in which urban politics is affected by, but not determined by, Washington.

    Mixing classic theory and research on urban politics with the most recent developments and data in urban and metropolitan affairs, Urban Politics, 10e is an ideal introductory textbook for students of metropolitan and regional politics and policy. The book’s material on citizen participation, urban bureaucracy, policy analysis, and intergovernmental relations also makes the volume an appropriate choice for Urban Administration courses.

    Chapter 2 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

    1. The Urban Situation: Active City, Intergovernmental City, Global City, and Bankrupt City

    2. The Evolution of Cities and Suburbs

    3. Recent Trends: Gentrification and Globalization

    4. Who Has the Power? Decision Making and Economic Development in Cities and Suburbs

    5. Formal Powers, Government Structure, and Leadership in Local Government

    6. The Rules of Local Elections and Politics: The Reform and Postreform City

    7. Citizen Participation

    8. Improving Urban Services: Meeting People’s Needs

    9. A Suburban Nation

    10. Regional Cooperation and Governance

    11. The Intergovernmental City: National and State Urban Policy in (and after) the Age of Trump

    12. The Future of Urban America

    Biography

    Myron A. Levine is a Professor in the Urban Affairs and Public Administration programs in the School of Public and International Affairs at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. His writings have appeared in the Journal of Urban Affairs, Urban Affairs Review, and various other urban studies and political science journals. In addition to authoring Urban Politics, he is the editor of Taking Sides: Urban Affairs and of a number of the volumes in the Annual Editions: Urban Society series. His research focuses on national urban policy, the politics of local economic development and gentrification, and the prospects for effective urban political leadership. He has received various Fulbright Foundation fellowships to study and teach in the Netherlands, Germany, the Slovak Republic, and Latvia, as well as an NEH award to study in France.

    Levine’s 10th edition of Urban Politics remains a handbook for the practitioner concerned with using public policy to support sustainable cities with a "development triangle" of environmental, economic, and social goals.  It supports a progressive urban agenda with practical examples and extensive research. In the current age, Levine’s unifying theme of power as "the ability to get things done" brings idealistic goals from blue skies down to the streets of America’s cities. 

    Minchin Lewis, Syracuse University, USA

    Thoroughly revised and rewritten, the new edition of Urban Politics provides a comprehensive view of urban development, contemporary urban politics, and urban issues. Its ample illustrations and boxed case material provide course instructors with substantial material for classroom discussion and student analysis.

    Heywood Saunders, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA