Challenging the Growth Machine: Neighborhood Politics in

Challenging the Growth Machine: Neighborhood Politics in Chicago and Pittsburgh (Studies in Government and Public Policy)
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Economic development and urban growth are the contested grounds of urban politics. Business elites and politicians tend to forge "pro-growth" coalitions centered around downtown development while progressive and neighborhood activists counter with a more balanced approach that features a strong neighborhood component. Urban politics is often shaped by this conflict, which has intellectual as well as practical dimensions. In some cities, neighborhood interests have triumphed; in others, the pro-growth agenda has prevailed.

In this illuminating comparative study, Barbara Ferman demonstrates why neighborhood challenges to pro-growth politics were much more successful in Pittsburgh than they were in Chicago. Operating largely in the civic arena, Pittsburgh's neighborhood groups encountered a political culture and institutional structure conducive to empowering neighborhood progressivism in housing and economic development policymaking. In contrast, the pro-growth agenda in Chicago was challenged in the electoral arena, which was dominated by machine, ward-based politicians who regarded any independent neighborhood organizing as a threat. Consequently, neighborhood demands for policymaking input were usually thwarted.

Besides revealing why the development policies of two important American cities diverged, Ferman's unique comparative approach to this issue significantly expands the scope of urban analysis. Among other things, it provides the first serious study to incorporate the civic sectorâ‚¬"neighborhood politicsâ‚¬"as an important component of urban regimes. Ferman also emphasizes institutional and cultural factorsâ‚¬"often ignored or relegated to residual roles in other studiesâ‚¬"and expounds on their influence in shaping local politics and policy. To add an analytical and normative dimension to urban analysis, she focuses on the "non-elite" actors, not just the economic and political elites who compose governing coalitions.

Ultimately, Ferman takes a more holistic and balanced view of large cities than is typical for urban studies as she argues that neighborhoods are an important, integral part of what cities are and can be. For that reason especially, her work will have a profound impact upon our understanding of urban politics.
Country USA
Brand University Press of Kansas
Manufacturer University Press of Kansas
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber maps
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780700607877
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	University Press of Kansas
Manufacturer	University Press of Kansas
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	maps
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780700607877
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

Challenging the Growth Machine: Neighborhood Politics in Chicago and Pittsburgh (Studies in Government and Public Policy)

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