Suchergebnisse

The contemporary city is regarded as an almost trivial affair, a weak and subordinate polity with an open economy. Though recognized as a tragic site of important events, it is esteemed to have little power to affect the lives of its inhabitants for good or ill. Its leaders are largely reduced to seeking handouts from superior governments. This low estate for the city is of long standing, commencing with the Greek city-state's loss of independence. Yet the city of the Hellenistic monarchies and the Roman Empire played a vital role. As Max Weber (1962) maintained, the modern nation-state battered down the walls of the city. But society cannot do without cities and their civilizing mission. If one agrees with Aristotle that the informing principle of the polity is its conception of the good life, that conception will be found most truly embodied in the city, which alone enables its inhabitants to live a full life.

The contemporary city is widely regarded as being politically and economically weak and relatively powerless. This may well be the case but it need not be. The city has lost its function in meeting the economic and spiritual needs of its people. In consequence, while it has legal citizens, it lacks real committed citizens. On the existence of such committed citizens the city'sfuture depends. Turning the city into a cooperative for the economic and spiritual full employment of its people would provide a basis for a revival and a recovery of function.

Discussed are strategies & problems involved in the reorganization of United States cities. The dominant role assumed by the federal government in directing the nation's affairs has effected a serious diffusion of responsibility & accountability in state & local governments. The primary reason for this is that no territorial arm of government exists that can take responsibility for the effect of federal programs upon local socioeconomic conditions. As a consequence, little of the feedback necessary to correct & improve federal policy is successfully conveyed to the central government. What is essential is a reshaping of fatalistic attitudes about lack of economic power at the local level. It should be a goal of the federal government & of the states that cities be able to support themselves. Toward this end, it is urged that states strive for complete understanding of their own economic bases, so that they may manage them more effectively & contribute to better urban management. D. Dunseath.

AbstractThe rebuilding of cities is far more than a matter of bricks and mortar. The city is people, not buildings, and unless most of them are employed, self‐respecting and respected, the towers of a "renewed" downtown are a delusion and a mockery. The city can be truly rebuilt and have a viable future only if its economy is made competitive and able to employ all its inhabitants.