CITY BUSINESS - AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ON MARKETPLACE POLITICS

We suggest that city governments in the western industrial world manif est strategic policy responses to global economic change. A theoretica l framework that accounts for variations in these development strategi es is offered. This framework links urban policy to (1) market conditi ons, (2) local mechanisms of political participation in economic decis ion-making and (3) systems of intergovernmental policy regulation. Thi s perspective is illustrated by applying it to eight cities in North A merica and western Europe in order to account for variations in progre ssive-style and growth-centred economic policy. The analysis demonstra tes that interaction among the three variables accounts for strategic policy responses, distringuishing four types of cities: Planning (Toro nto and Amsterdam), Mercantile (New York City and London), Dependent ( Glasgow and Marseilles) and Populist cities. The analysis concludes by suggesting that this theoretical framework may be developed to accoun t for a given city's ability to move from one path of development to a nother over time.