Old and new paradigms for urban research - Globalization and the Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation Project

Globalization increases local democracy. Both economic and democratic chang es illustrate how global developments interpenetrate regional and local pro cesses. Globalization also demands reformulation of past research paradigms . For instance, central place theory, regimes and growth machines, class an d race politics, rational choice models, and patronage/clientelism paradigm s are all losing power. A new political culture is emerging with globalizat ion, redefining the rules of the game by which many urban processes operate . The Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation Project is a network of more th an 700 participants generating discussion, research reports, and public dat a clarifying these points.