Paul G. Lewis and Max Neiman Custodians of Place: Governing the Growth and Development of Cities Washington

摘要

Lewis and Neiman have put together a very interesting volume on economic development and growth management policies in cities. Their primary thesis is that, contrary to theoretical predictions from earlier models of urban political economy, cities adopt quite different growth strategies and one of the significant factors in that variation is the vision that city officials have of their communities' future. City officials do not act simply as delegates, translating citizen needs and preferences into policies, but rather as trustees, or custodians of their place, in determining development priorities and programs. Most previous work on growth policies focused on the impact of community characteristics, problems facing the city, and political institutions as determinants of policy choices. The importance of city officials and their choices within the constraints that cities face has been neglected. Combining the results from three statewide surveys of California city managers, planning officials, and economic development officers, the authors carefully explore the relationship between the standard explanatory factors and the importance of the city's view of itself in the future. All survey had high response rates. The result is a more comprehensive data set with a larger number of cities than is typical in much urban research.