′Anybody who thinks the study of urban politics is stagnating needs to pick up a copy of Theories of Urban Politics. Insightful analysis of scholarship on traditional topics is supplemented by chapters on nontraditional topics, including the new institutionalism, network governance, and urban leadership... If you want to keep up with cutting-edge debates in urban studies, the Davies and Imbroscio volume is essential′ - Todd Swanstrom, Saint Louis University ′Connects the best traditions of urban political theory with important new contributions on emerging themes. This completely revised second edition is an invaluable book for new students and established scholars. It is accessible, theoretically rich, and maps out an exciting and challenging research agenda. It will spend more time open and on the desk, than closed and on the bookshelf!′ - Professor Chris Skelcher, University of Birmingham ′Many colleagues have told us that our edition of Theories of Urban Politics provided great insights and grounding to students and seasoned researchers alike. We are delighted that so able a successor has emerged. Those that study urban politics need to be challenged and inspired by theory and this book delivers a powerful update for urban scholars′ - David Judge, Gerry Stoker and Harold Wolman, Editors of the First Edition ′This long-awaited sequel to the pioneering First Edition updates debates and developments through an excellent collection of entirely new essays contributed by some of the leading academics in the field. A special feature of the volume is that it links concerns in urban politics in North America and Europe. An excellent read′ - Professor David Wilson, De Montfort University Expanding and updating the successful first edition, Theories of Urban Politics, Second Edition provides a comprehensive introduction to and evaluation of the theoretical approaches to urban governance. Restructured into four new parts - Power, Governance, Citizens, and Challenges - the second edition reflects developments in the field over the last decade, with newly commissioned chapters updating and adding to the theoretical material included in the first edition. With contributions from many of the key figures in urban theory today, this text will be required reading on all urban politics, urban planning and public administration courses.

Providing a comprehensive overview of the main theories which structure debate on urban politics, the internationally respected contributors to this textbook provide a clear and coherent account which is organized around four major questions. The first part looks at issues of power and examines both traditional and recent theories of power in cities. The nature of public bureaucracy and those officials that have a leadership role within city government are discussed in the second part. The third part examines the ways that citizens are involved in the process of urban politics. The final part seeks to place urban politics in terms of the social economic environment and the complex architecture of government in which it has

Urban Theory: New Critical Perspectives provides an introduction to innovative critical contributions to the field of urban studies. Chapters offer easily accessible and digestible reviews, and as a reference text Urban Theory is a comprehensive and integrated primer which covers topics necessary for a full understanding of recent theoretical engagements with cities. The introduction outlines the development of urban theory over the past two hundred years and discusses significant theoretical, methodological and empirical challenges facing the field of urban studies in the context of an increasing globally inter-connected world. The chapters explore twenty-four topics, which are new additions to the urban theoretical debate, highlighting their relationship to long established concerns that continue to have intellectual purchase, and which also engage with rich new and emerging avenues for debate. Each chapter considers the genealogy of the topic at hand and also includes case studies which explain key terms or provide empirical examples to guide the reader to a better understanding of how theory adds to our understanding of the complexities of urban life. This book offers a critical and assessable introduction to original and groundbreaking urban theory and will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students in human geography, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, economics, planning, political science and urban studies.

This book facilitates more careful engagement with the production, politics and geography of knowledge as scholars create space for the inclusion of southern cities in urban theory. Making Urban Theory addresses debates of the past fifty years regarding whether and why scholars should conceptualize southern cities as different and argues for the continued importance of unlearning existing theory. With examples from the urban question to environmental justice, urban infrastructure to basic income, this volume highlights the limitations of existing explanations as well as how thinking from the south entails more than collecting data in new places. Throughout the book, instances of juxtapositions, unease, unlearning and learning anew emphasize how theory-making from southern cases can open avenues to more creative possibilities. The book pulls theories apart, examining distinct components to better understand the universality and provinciality of empirical phenomena, causality and norms, including questions of what a city is and ought to be. This book delivers a clearer articulation of ongoing debates and future possibilities for southern urban scholarship, and it will thus be relevant for both scholars and students of Urban Studies, Urban Theory, Urban Geography, Research Methods in Geography, Postcolonial/Southern Cities and Global Cities at graduate and post-graduate levels.