What three changes in global capitalism have transformed urban economies?

a)     Replacement of industrial with service sector jobs

b)     Deconcentration of business activities and urban residents

c)     Emergence of an international competition among cities (globalization)

-concentrated areas where people adapt and resilience is tested

-complimented their role as global innovators with geophysical centrality

-the terrain on which technological, social, and global transformation has taken place

1. paved the way for boomtowns

2. brought old and new cities into economic competition with each other

movement out of healthy central cities, which allows remaining residents more space and gives departing residents more economical accommodations

deconcentration that entails an exodus from urban cores b/c of decaying conditions, leaving cities as segregated reservations for the poor

when ppl move off rural land in search of opportunities elsewhere, and fail to find them (impoverished growth)

-free trade;

-theory of competitive advantage;

-standardization

a)      Free trade and competitive advantage have made societies more efficient, yet more fragile and susceptible to crisis

b)  Disease travels as swiftly as airline flights and has acquired an international character

c)     Spread of terrorism; ease of travel, instant communication, and quick transfer of money make it possible for terrorists to do their work and attack fragile international linkages

-Most metropolitan areas have become wealthier, but contain rising numbers of the poor

-Urban transformation has both expanded the sphere of central cities and shrunk it

-Transformation has made cities into hardworking centers of productivity, yet also made them into sites of gluttonous leisurely consumption (ex Tourist Bubbles)

a) one perspective is that urban decision making is shaped by economics, and they stress growth and competition as the predominant force; cities must give priority to economic growth b/c they are disciplined by a market that punishes them with loss of jobs and tax revenue

     b) one perspective is that political preferences matter more than economic pressures; powerful leaders, coalitions, regimes, and growth machines operating to shape economic preferences

antigrowth vs. progrowth coalitions

antigrowth: impulses are driven by a desire for citizen participation and local autonomy

progrowth: impulses are driven by a desire to standardize development and expand the contributions of multinational firms in the local economy

Questions of how, when, and why local government can influence economic development are best answered how?

by treating political control as something that springs from bargaining advantages that the state has in political and economic exchange relationships with business.

  This theory suggests that although public and private control systems are separate, they are highly independent

a)     For gov’t: Private sector produces economic resources that are necessary for well-being of the political community

b)     Public sector is important to business b/c it provides forms of intervention into the market necessary for promotion of economic enterprise that the private sector cannot provide

1) Market Conditions

2) Popular control systems

3) Public Intervention mechanisms

What is bargaining a product of?

What is "automatic punishing recoil?"

business pursues public objectives only if it serves private needs; if needs are not met, local gov’t experiences the discipline of the marketplace as capital and labor seek alternative locations

business makes investment choices among stationary cities; b/c cities cannot move, powerful bargaining advantages accrue to business in the urban development process and supposedly this enables them to exact what they want from local governments

-means of disciplining public officials

- constrains political actors who seek to government cooperation or public legitimation in the pursuit of their interests

a)     Public approval of bargaining outcomes b/t gov’t and business must be connected to the capital-investment process

b)     Public authorities must have the managerial capability to organize and deliver political support for programs sought by business

c)     Popular-control mechanisms are a valuable bargaining resource when they bind elected leaders to programmatic objectives

-Local government control of urban development is enhanced

-political structures that decentralize the regulation of market failures afford less local government influence

-Limits local political authority in urban planning

However:

-More centralized systems can often work to enhance local government bargaining power with the private sector

-By making it easier for gov'ts to control capital movement

-Permitting localities to draw of the resources, regulatory apparatus, and political support of higher levels of government

-Fiscal disparities among communities

-differences in abilities to finance policy initiatives

- promotes a choice of alternate policy packages for citizens

-General-purpose governments responsible for providing a range of policies and services to citizens

-Posseses substantial autonomy or independence from other local governments

-have significant policy making responsibility

-general purpose government that provides a range of policies and services to all citizens in their jurisdiction

-generally provide services in areas that are not served by a municipality

  -operate but do not appear on the map

-responsible for a limited number of functions, and lack the broad policymaking responsibility of general purpose gov’ts

geographic: means a single neighborhood is served by many different units

functional: means various units are responsible for performing similar governmental functions (ex. city and county providing healthcare)

a)     each engages in policy making process

b)     each must deal with the various stages of policy cycle: agenda setting, enactment, implementation, and impact

c)     each engages in off cycle policymaking

d)     each engages in actions that influence the problems and opportunities faced by other units of gov’t that occupy the metropolitan area called policy externalities

because governmental units are coequal;

negotiation or bringing in authoritative higher level of gov’t is how problems are solved

-An attempt to give cities (and counties) greater leeway to undertake action without first having to obtain expressed state permission

-generally free to enact laws of their own as long as these local laws are not preempted by state action in the field.

County government is difficult to change because of the difficult task of changing the constitution which governs almost every facet of county government

(See Casey explanation)

-an organizational structure that gets its authority and powers from the state government

-substantial autonomy to act independently from other governmental units (make its own budget and set its own tax rates, etc)

a) existing local governments are unable to provide needed services for the local residents, as special district governments can

b) special districts are more equitable- only the recipients of the services are taxed

c) special districts have a more business like approach b/c there is only one function to take care of and it receives their full attention

a) special districts are inherently undemocratic b/c they are not elected but appointed

b) special districts do not foster better management b/c of the fragmentation of government

c) special districts can be an economic liability b/c small districts cannot take advantage of economies of scale

d) establishment of special districts is questioned; certain individual and group stand to gain financially

e) there is little to no scrutiny of special districts so the likelihood of dishonesty is greatly increased

What are Councils of Governments?

-Voluntary associations of gov'ts that provide forums for area wide study, discussion, and planning of common problems.

-have no taxing or enforcement powers

-permit some degree of planning, research, and coordination on a region-wide basis