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Despite the significant contributions of cities to our nation's economy and the everyday life of most Americans, local government leaders are faced with significant constraints on their ability to lead and govern. This article presents a novel framework of constraints facing city leadership focused on legal (what they are allowed to do), fiscal (what they have resources to do), and political constraints (what they want to do). A model is constructed to analyze the impact of these constraints on local action regarding minimum wage and hypothesize that greater constraints will result in less policy action within cities. Using multivariate regression, the authors find that political constraints and economic factors are the most significant determinants of whether a city pursues policy leadership.

Leading Cities is a global review of the state of city leadership and urban governance today. Drawing on research into 202 cities in 100 countries, the book provides a broad, international evidence base grounded in the experiences of all types of cities. It offers a scholarly but also practical assessment of how cities are led, what challenges their leaders face, and the ways in which this leadership is increasingly connected to global affairs.

Arguing that effective leadership is not just something created by an individual, Elizabeth Rapoport, Michele Acuto and Leonora Grcheva focus on three elements of city leadership: leaders, the structures and institutions that underpin them, and the tools used to drive change. Each of these elements are examined in turn, as are the major urban policy issues that leaders confront today on the ground. The book also takes a deep dive into one particular example of tool or instrument of city leadership – the strategic urban plan.

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; List of figures and tables; List of figures; Foreword; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction: a time for city leadership; 2. Exploring city leadership: catalysts of action; 3. The shape of leadership: actors and structures; 4. Setting priorities: local leadership in a global world; 5. Setting directions: leadership and strategic urban plans; 6. Conclusion: a search for better city leadership; Appendices; References; Index

The new European Health Policy Framework and Strategy: Health 2020 of the World Health Organization, draws upon the experience and insights of five phases, spanning 25 years, of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network (WHO-EHCN). Applying the 2020 health lens to Healthy Cities, equity in health and human-centered sustainable development are core values and cities have a profound influence on the wider determinants of health in the European population. "Making it Happen" relies on four action elements applied and tested by municipalities and their formal and informal partners: political commitment, vision and strategy, institutional change, and networking. In turn, the renewed commitment by member states of the WHO Regional Committee to work with all spheres and tiers of government is a new dawn for city governance, encouraging cities to redouble their investment in health and health equity in all policies, even in a period of austerity. For phase VI, the WHO-EHCN is being positioned as a strategic vehicle for implementing Health 2020 at the local level. Healthy Cities' leadership is more relevant than ever.

Municipal leadership in Kansas City centers on the nonpartisan principle & the council-manager plan. Unlike many other cities with nonpartisan requirements, Kansas City has produced a nonpartisan system that has proved workable over a 20-yr period. But continuance depends on the viability of the Citizens Assoc, a nonpartisan - or bipartisan - group which has dominated Kansas City pot from its inception in 1941 to the present time, with a 4-yr break from 1959-1963. The Assoc has experienced some difficulty in keeping its leadership vital & in maintaining a sufficiently broad base to permit participation by the diverse elements of the community. The leadership responsibility of the Assoc, resumed in 1963, is of major importance in maintaining a stable source of power. Also, relations between the mayor & the manager are crucial, as experiences in the immediate past have shown. Under present arrangements, official & private groups are co-operating in achieving public objectives. A new sophistication is now being demanded of those to whom the manager is accountable. AA.

Proposes sharing of executive authority and responsibility by city managers as an effective way of improving leadership; US.

This paper was prepared for the Big Ideas conference in Fort Collins, Colorado in Fall 2011. The conference was sponsored by the Alliance for Innovation which is a combined effort of the International City/County Management Association and Arizona State University's program in public administration. ; This article identifies leadership challenges that local governments are facing. It includes specific instances of the challenges and how they have been addressed. ; This paper was prepared for presentation at the Big Ideas Conferences sponsored by the International City/County Management Association/Arizona State University Alliance for Innovation

Municipal leadership in Kansas City centers on the nonpartisan principle and the council-manager plan. Un like many other cities with nonpartisan requirements, Kansas City has produced a nonpartisan system that has proved workable over a twenty-year period. But continuance depends on the viability of the Citizens Association, a nonpartisan—or bipartisan—group which has dominated Kansas City politics from its inception in 1941 to the present time, with a four-year break from 1959 to 1963. The Association has experienced some difficulty in keeping its leadership vital and in maintaining a sufficiently broad base to permit participation by the diverse elements of the community. The leadership responsibility of the Association, resumed in 1963, is of major importance in maintaining a stable source of power. Also, relations between the mayor and the manager are crucial, as experiences in the immediate past have shown. Under present arrangements, official and private groups are co-operating in achieving public objectives. A new sophistication is now being demanded of those to whom the manager is accountable.