THE CHARACTER AND CONSEQUENCES OF GROWTH REGIMES - AN ASSESSMENT OF 20 YEARS OF RESEARCH

The authors review the empirical evidence on two key hypotheses derive d from the model of the city as a growth machine. The first posits the pervasive influence of progrowth coalitions in local governing regime s. The second states that growth regimes make a difference to local de velopment. The authors offer suggestions to strengthen research on bot h points, emphasizing the need to distinguish between policy and polit ics. They urge greater attention to an alternative hypothesis: that th e main impacts of growth machines lie in their distributional outcomes -intensifying inequalities among places and displacing alternative goa ls of governance at the local level.