Does globalization menace our cities? Are cities able to exercise democratic rule and strategic choice when international competition increasingly limits the importance of place? Cities in the International Marketplace looks at the political responses of ten cities in North America and Western Europe as they grappled with the forces of global restructuring during the past thirty years. H. V. Savitch and Paul Kantor conclude that cities do have choices in city building and that they behave strategically in the international marketplace.
Rather than treating cities through case studies, this book undertakes rigorous systematic comparison. In doing so it provides an innovative theory that explains how city governments bargain in the capital investment process to assert their influence. The authors examine the role of economic conditions and intergovernmental politics as well as local democratic institutions and cultural values. They also show why cities vary in their approaches to urban development. They portray how cities are constrained by the dynamics of the global economy but are not its prisoners. Further, they explain why some urban communities have more maneuverability than do others in the economic development game. Local governance, culture, and planning can combine with economic fortune and national urban policies to provide resources that expand or contract the scope for choice. This clearly written book analyzes the political economy of development in Detroit, Houston, and New York in the United States; Toronto in Canada; Paris and Marseilles in France; Milan and Naples in Italy; and Glasgow and Liverpool in Great Britain.
Awards and Recognition
- Winner of the 2003 Best Book in Urban Politics Award
H. V. Savitch is the Brown and Williamson Distinguished Research Professor of Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Louisville. He has published nine books, including Post-Industrial Cities: Politics and Planning in New York, Paris, and London (Princeton). Paul Kantor is Professor of Political Science at Fordham University. His many books include The Dependent City Revisited and The Politics of Urban America.
"This is a major study about western cities in the context of global capitalism and the large demographic shifts of the last thirty years. Through a mix of detailed empirical study and big conceptual questions the authors give us the instruments to capture and detect the ongoing weight of local politics in an exploding international marketplace that has made cities themselves an object for investment."—Saskia Sassen, editor of, Global Networks, Linked Cities
"An important comparative study of urban development process and politics. . . . . Savitch and Kantor's systematic study offers an array of explanations that are woven together to demonstrate several important concepts about planning policy and urban development."—Robyne S. Turner, Journal of the American Planning Association
"Savitch and Kantor have produced a daring comparison of disparate cities ranging from Naples to Houston, with Paris and New York in the mix as well. Thorough research and close analysis are combined to forceful effect."—Paul E. Peterson, Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Government, Harvard University
"This is a big, interesting, and provocative book. Ambitious in sweep and confident in tone, it moves us toward a more thorough understanding of the role of human agency in city fortunes in a world increasingly shaped by huge forces that had seemed to many at first glance simply to trump political will. The authors write about each city with a sure hand, and even if you are not familiar with a particular place, you come away with a real feel for it."—Peter Eisinger, Wayne State University
"This long-awaited book offers a truly comparative analysis of urban development. It does so in a clear, concise, and systematic fashion. The authors approach regime theory from a novel vantage point and add significantly to the theory. Overall, this book significantly advances our knowledge about the relationship between globalization, economic restructuring, and urban policy choice."—Jon Pierre, University of Goteborg
