Governing Cities in a Global Era Urban Innovation, Competition, and Democratic Reform

Written in a lively and accessible style by leading scholars from eleven countries this is the first global book to provide a thorough examination of the urban challenges now facing city leaders and managers in all continents. The text is organized into three parts: the global pressures now impacting urban governance; the innovations currently taking place in urban government; and the heartland themes of leadership, partnership and the democratic challenge. The analysis suggests that global forces pose a grave threat to civilized living ' the pursuit of narrow self-interest could drive all cities into a spiral of decline resulting in consumers living isolated lives in separate fortified enclaves. All the authors in this volume reject this vision of our urban future. Instead, by analyzing place-specific experiences and offering new insights on the dynamics of urban change, they propose imaginative routes for reform. This book argues for strategies that can lead to prosperous multi-cultural cities across the world ' cities that enhance the quality of life for all citizens.

Robin Hambleton is Professor of City Leadership in the Faculty of Environment and Technology at the University of the West of England, Bristol and Director of Urban Answers – a private UK based company.  He was Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) at the University of Illinois at Chicago until 2007.  He now holds Visiting Professorships in Urban Planning and Policy and in Public Administration at CUPPA, and a Visiting Professorship in City Planning in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, Shanghai, China.Jill Simone Gross is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College of the City University of New York, USA, and has taught at Barnard College, Columbia University, New York University, Queens College and Brooklyn College. She teaches and conducts research in comparative urban politics and development in Western European and North American cities, with an emphasis on issues of equity and inclusion.