Changing Cities

A new conventional wisdom, spanning academic and policy communities, sees a combination of economic competitiveness, social cohesion and responsive governance as essential for survival in the post-1980s world—and cities as crucial to achieving these goals. This interdisciplinary text provides the first critical examination of these ideas, drawing on the UK Cities research program and other recent research. It combines analysis of the competitiveness-cohesion-governance problematic with examination of the major processes underlying key sectors of the urban economy, physical development, social relations, neighborhoods and urban policy.

In this collection of 15 interdisciplinary articles, contributors describe their work on such issues as changes in perceptions about the role of cities in economic life, new ways of thinking of about social cohesion, and the re-definition of what constitutes responsive governance by looking at both the conceptual level and among key sectors, processes and institutions. Topics include socio-economic changes recently observed in cities, the integration of cities, for example into "urban triangles," the role of knowledge and innovation in the competitiveness of cities, regional dynamics of financial services, linking place and social exclusion to study neighborhoods and poverty, gentrification, neighborhood participation, and labor markets. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Nick Buck is Professor and Associate Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex.

Ian Gordon is Professor of Human Geography, London School of Economics.

Alan Harding is Professor of Urban and Regional Governance and Co-Director of the Centre for Sustainable Urban and Regional Futures, Salford University.

Ivan Turok is Professor of Urban Economic Development, University of Glasgow.