Cityscapes and Capital : Politics of Urban Development

As American cities seek to revitalise their urban centres and surrounding region, planners and politicians often look for quick fix schemes.

But cities that have achieved success, argue Michael Pagano and Ann Bowman, have done so through an alliance of politics and economics focused upon a long-term vision of what the city can be.

It is this self-image that politicians and developers sell in attracting capital to take a risk on a city's future.

Arguing that "politics matters," the authors demonstrate the critical role played by political leaders in shaping a city's future and in forging coalitions to ensure success.

The authors draw upon comparative data from 10 cities to closely examine 40 development projects more closely.

The 10 medium-sized cities, distributed representatively across the United States, include Orlando, Huntsville, Duluth, Lowell, Evansville, Beaumont, Springfield, Boise, Independence, and Santa Barbara.