
The Politics of Urban and Regional Development and the American Exception
Kevin R. Cox(Author)
Syracuse University Press
Will be published approx. on 12. October 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-8156-3439-3 (ISBN)
Description
Although all advanced industrial societies have urban and regional developmentpolicies, such policy in the United States historically has taken on a very distinct form. Compared with the more top-down, centrally orchestrated approaches of Western European countries, US cities and, to a lesser degree, states, take the lead, spurred on by developers and those with interest in rent. This bottom-up policy creates conflict as one city battles with another for new investments and as real estate developers fight over the spoils, resulting in highly contentious politics.
In The Politics of Urban and Regional Development and the American Exception, Cox addresses the question of why US policy is so unique. In doing so, he illustrates the essential characteristics of American regional development through a series of case studies including housing politics in Silicon Valley; the history of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport; and a major redevelopment project that was rebuffed in Columbus, Ohio. Cox contrasts these examples with Western Europe's tradition of centralized governmental involvement and stronger labor movements that historically have been more concerned with creating what he calls "the good geography" than profits for developers, whatever the shortfalls in policy outcomes might be. The differences illuminate the peculiar nature of political engagement and local competition in shaping the way US urban development has evolved.
In The Politics of Urban and Regional Development and the American Exception, Cox addresses the question of why US policy is so unique. In doing so, he illustrates the essential characteristics of American regional development through a series of case studies including housing politics in Silicon Valley; the history of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport; and a major redevelopment project that was rebuffed in Columbus, Ohio. Cox contrasts these examples with Western Europe's tradition of centralized governmental involvement and stronger labor movements that historically have been more concerned with creating what he calls "the good geography" than profits for developers, whatever the shortfalls in policy outcomes might be. The differences illuminate the peculiar nature of political engagement and local competition in shaping the way US urban development has evolved.
Reviews / Votes
"The product of many years of research, theoretical and political engagement. No one but this author could have written this book, drawing on a literature that stretches back through the last quarter of a century and reviewing the urban experience across thesame period and longer."-Allan Cochrane, author of Understanding Urban Policy: A Critical Approach.More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
15 figures, 8 tables
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
556 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8156-3439-3 (9780815634393)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Kevin R. Cox is Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Geography at The Ohio State University. He is the author of numerous books, including Making Human Geography, and was coeditor of The SAGE Handbook of Political Geography.