Abstract
How do planners think and teach about the relationship between urban politics and urban planning? It is tempting to limit politics to the work of politicians; however, if planners consider politics as the study of power in cities, then there are clear benefits for planning practitioners, scholars, and students to increase both their knowledge about and their understanding of urban politics. Urban Politics: A Reader, edited by Stephen McGovern, is a collection of US-focused readings that takes a historical and chronological approach to exploring the link between social and political changes in cities, and the role of people in governance.
The book offers a breadth of topics and a range of perspectives about many areas of urban politics that are of concern to planners, including urbanization, deindustrialization, and community and economic development. Throughout the book, the editor made a conscious effort to look beyond large metropolitan areas, having selected readings that show how urban politics unfolds in cities such as Portland, Oregon; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Richmond, Virginia. In addition to honing critical thinking skills, McGovern’s stated goals for the reader include expanding “students’ knowledge of power and politics in American cities,” and cultivating “a lifelong concern for the vitality and well-being of cities” (xiii). The editor is trained in law and political science, and this volume could be of value for courses in urban planning, urban studies, and public policy.
Urban Politics: A Reader is organized into five parts with fourteen chapters, with each chapter containing several readings that examine key themes. Following an introductory chapter titled “Cities in a Global Era,” part 1 of the book (chapters 2–4) provides a foundation about the formation of urban politics. Part 2 (chapters 5–8) focuses on urban politics under stress, with chapters on suburbanization, deindustrialization, and racial politics. Part 3 (chapters 9–11) is about the politics of urban revitalization, and part 4 (chapters 12 and 13) examines the changing dynamics of urban politics. Finally, part 5 (chapter 14) concludes with readings on contemporary approaches to urban politics. The editor begins each chapter with an analytical overview that provides historical context, and brief introductions to the reading selections that follow.
The book begins with an overview about cities and globalization, which situates American cities and urban politics within a broader frame of the global economy. Part 1 is composed of three chapters. In the chapter “Politics in the Preindustrial City,” the editor draws on readings analyzing the roots of the relationship between cities and privatization, the role of business interests in US cities during the 1700 and 1800s, and concluding with policy applications that use public health crises as examples. The chapter “Machine Politics” focuses on the growth of cities, the shift from preindustrial times to mass urbanization, and the role of machine politics in exchanges of votes, services, and support. Part 1 concludes with the chapter “Reform Politics,” with readings that examine the early goals of city governance, the role of regulation in improving societal conditions, comparisons to previous governance through machine politics, and critiques about whether reformers were truly as committed to the common good as they claimed.
Part 2 introduces readers to urban politics issues of the twentieth century, first focusing on suburbanization and deindustrialization, and then turning to community responses. Chapter 5 draws on readings that explore the hollowing out of the city, and the ways relatively autonomous suburban governments used their power to enforce racial segregation. In chapter 6, the editor combines selections that examine the negative impacts of deindustrialization, discuss the role of businesses in supporting redevelopment, and also raise questions about discourses around the common good that may be coupled with a reluctance to engage in actions that support civil rights. The next chapter titled “Race, Protest, and Backlash” includes material about the Black Power movement, the future of civil rights, immigrant experiences in the 1960s and 1970s, and a policy applications section about Black communities and self-determination. Part 2 concludes with the chapter titled “Crisis” about deindustrialization and worsening poverty in cities, and includes a selection from Jonathan Kozol’s book Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools (1991) on the effects of reducing funding to public schools.
In part 3, the book shifts to the politics of urban revitalization, with chapter 9 focusing on the influence of federal urban programs and the impact of downsizing these initiatives. The chapter titled “Grassroots Activism” about community organizing begins with an excerpt from Reveille for Radicals by Saul Alinsky (1989). The editor then adds an excerpt from The Community Development Reader (Warren 2008) that analyzes next-generation organizers who began with Alinsky’s strategies and subsequently developed their own approach of faith-based community organizing. Chapter 11 discusses regime politics, with readings about biracial coalitions, public–private partnerships, and public policy applications using the Inner Harbor in Baltimore as an example. Part 4 examines the changing dynamics of urban politics and contains two chapters: one about contemporary race and ethnicity in urban politics from the 1980s to present, and another chapter on immigration and politics. Chapter 12 includes selections about mayoral campaigns and attempts to “deracialize” campaigns, the demobilization of Black politics, and an analysis of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina as an example of racial conflict producing distrust and preventing action. Chapter 13 starts with a brief overview of immigration in the United States since the 1800s, and also includes selections analyzing political participation among immigrants, and related challenges to developing and sustaining governing coalitions. The chapter concludes with a public policy applications section about anti-immigrant policies.
Finally, in part 5 the book provides selections by and about city mayors, each working toward a different approach to local governing. First, an essay about former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, followed by an entry from former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the governing decisions of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and an essay about the role of progressive politics.
A unique strength of the book is that the editor has curated a thoughtful collection of readings that feature perspectives from academics as well as activists, journalists, and political figures, providing varying viewpoints and writing styles. Each chapter concludes with examples of how the topic appears in practice by using a past or current policy to show how the chapter topic relates to past or current challenges. Additionally, at the end of each chapter are a set of discussion questions and a list of resources for further study, which are drawn from the scholarly literature, policy institutes, media, and public interest organizations. For instance, the additional resources list for the chapter on suburbanization includes the documentary film Brick by Brick: A Civil Rights Story, citations to the recent academic literature, and the website for the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project database of racially restrictive covenants.
The book offers a thorough historical examination of many foundational areas in urban politics; however, there are several groups and topics that remain absent from the reader. For instance, readings on urban politics issues that pertain specifically to women and cities, gender inequalities, sexuality, or the LGBTQ community are notably missing. Instructors may also want to provide supplemental materials if they seek an analysis about people and governance that accounts for the intersections of multiple identity categories.
There are also some missed opportunities to include reading selections and analyses that might better reflect the diversity of racial and ethnic experiences in urban spaces. Although the editor includes chapters on race, ethnicity, and immigration, along with several readings about the Black Power movement in earlier chapters, readings that more clearly acknowledge Latina/Latino, Asian / Asian American, and Indigenous populations within urban politics would be welcome additions. Lastly, pressing contemporary issues related to the environment, sustainability, or climate change and cities are also not included in this volume.
Urban Politics: A Reader offers an invaluable chronological approach to understanding the evolution of urban politics, particularly for thinking about the relationship between urban politics, local governance, and urban planning in the United States. McGovern provides keen historical insights and context, as well as public policy applications that will certainly be of use to scholars, practitioners, and students.