For more than one hundred years, governments have grappled with the complex problem of how to revitalize distressed urban areas. In 1995, the original urban Empowerment Zones (Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia) each received a $100 million federal block grant and access to a variety of market-oriented policy tools to support the implementation of a ten-year strategic plan to increase economic opportunities and promote sustainable community development in high-poverty neighborhoods. In Collaborative Governance for Urban Revitalization, Michael J. Rich and Robert P. Stoker confront the puzzle of why the outcomes achieved by the original Empowerment Zones varied so widely given that each city had the same set of federal policy tools and resources and comparable neighborhood characteristics.The authors' analysis, based on more than ten years of field research in Atlanta and Baltimore and extensive empirical analysis of EZ processes and outcomes in all six cities shows that revitalization outcomes are best explained by the quality of local governance. Good local governance makes positive contributions to revitalization efforts, while poor local governance retards progress. While policy design and contextual factors are important, how cities craft and carry out their strategies are critical determinants of successful revitalization. Rich and Stoker find that good governance is often founded on public-private cooperation, a stance that argues against both the strongest critics of neoliberalism (who see private enterprise as dangerous in principle) and the strongest opponents of liberalism (who would like to reduce the role of government).

Although collaborations for local and regional economic development have been popular in recent years, it is not yet wholly clear when or how such efforts bring successful outcomes. Using an integrative conceptual framework for collaborative governance, this innovative collection provides a systematic and interdisciplinary analysis of real-world collaborative networks for local and regional economic development. Focusing on a wide range collaborative economic development in diverse cities and regions in USA, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, and South Korea, the chapters explore what forces motivate the emergence of collaborative economic development efforts. Each chapter explores the factors which contribute to or hinder collaborative governance efforts for economic development and identifies lessons for overcoming challenges to creating communities that are economically resilient, environmentally sustainable and politically engaged in the era of globalization. By focusing on collaborative governance and its implications for the ability of policies to meet the challenges of the 21st century, it provides lessons for researchers in public management, urban planning/development, public policy, and political science, as well as practitioners interested in promoting local economic development.

Although collaborations for local and regional economic development have been popular in recent years, it is not yet wholly clear when or how such efforts bring successful outcomes. Using an integrative conceptual framework for collaborative governance, this innovative collection provides a systematic and interdisciplinary analysis of real-world collaborative networks for local and regional economic development. Focusing on a wide range collaborative economic development in diverse cities and regions in USA, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, and South Korea, the chapters explore what forces motivate the emergence of collaborative economic development efforts. Each chapter explores the factors which contribute to or hinder collaborative governance efforts for economic development and identifies lessons for overcoming challenges to creating communities that are economically resilient, environmentally sustainable and politically engaged in the era of globalization. By focusing on collaborative governance and its implications for the ability of policies to meet the challenges of the 21st century, it provides lessons for researchers in public management, urban planning/development, public policy, and political science, as well as practitioners interested in promoting local economic development.

Presenting the findings of a major Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project into urban austerity governance in eight cities across the world, this book offers comparative reflections on the myriad experiences of collaborative governance and its limitations.

The health of American democracy ultimately depends on our willingness and ability to work together as citizens and stakeholders in our republic. Government policies often fail to promote such collaboration. But if designed properly, they can do much to strengthen civic engagement. That is the central message of Carmen Sirianni's eloquent new book. Rather than encourage citizens to engage in civic activity, government often puts obstacles in their way. Many agencies treat citizens as passive clients rather than as community members, overlooking their ability to mobilize assets and networks to solve problems. Many citizen initiatives run up against rigid rules and bureaucratic silos, causing all but the most dedicated activists to lose heart. The unfortunate—and unnecessary—result is a palpable decline in the quality of civic life. Fortunately, growing numbers of policymakers across the country are figuring out how government can serve as a partner and catalyst for collaborative problem solving. Investing in Democracy details three such success stories: neighborhood planning in Seattle; youth civic engagement programs in Hampton, Virginia; and efforts to develop civic environmentalism at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The book explains what measures were taken and why they succeeded. It distills eight core design principles that characterize effective collaborative governance and concludes with concrete recommendations for federal policy.

A distinctive feature of urbanization in the last 50 years is the expansion of urban populations and built development well beyond what was earlier conceived as the city limit, resulting in metropolitan areas. This is challenging the relevance of traditional municipal boundaries, and by extension, traditional governing structures and institutions. "Steering the Metropolis: Metropolitan Governance for Sustainable Urban Development,” encompasses the reflections of thought and practice leaders on the underlying premises for governing metropolitan space, sectoral adaptations of those premises, and dynamic applications in a wide variety of contexts. Those reflections are structured into three sections. Section 1 discusses the conceptual underpinnings of metropolitan governance, analyzing why political, technical, and administrative arrangements at this level of government are needed. Section 2 deepens the discussion by addressing specific sectoral themes of mobility, land use planning, environmental management, and economic production, as well as crosscutting topics of metropolitan governance finance, and monitoring and evaluation. Section 3 tests the concepts and their sectoral adaptations against the practice, with cases from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe.

Cities, and the built environment more broadly, are key in the global response to climate change. This groundbreaking book seeks to understand what governance tools are best suited for achieving cities that are less harmful to the natural environment,