This book will speak to the new human epoch, the Urban Age. A majority of humanity now lives for the first time in cities. The city, the highest invention of the modern age, is now the human heartland. And yet the same process that brought us the city and its wonders, modernisation, has also thrown up challenges and threats, especially climate change, resource depletion, social division and economic insecurity. This book will consider how these threats are to be encountered and countered in an urban age. It will focus on the issue of human knowledge and self-awareness, just as Hannah influential The Human Condition did half a century ago. The Human Condition is now The Urban Condition. And it is this condition that will define human prospects in an age of default and risk.
Solving US Ur problems is an increasingly important concern of the public & of gov officials. Soc sci can make an important contribution to solutions by providing Ur soc indicators. 3 General propositions concerning this process are: (1) Soc sci'ts must be prepared for accusations of betrayal from proponents of causes which they have previously supported, it data conflict with objectives of such causes. (2) flow indicators are developed will influence at what level problems are resolved. (3) Soc indicators will be developed by professors & gov executives whose judgments will be based on a value-background cliff from that of the Ur masses being measured. In the light of these propositions, 4 guidelines for soc indicators are suggested: (a) They should be in the realm of disaggregation & r. (b) As they cannot be apol'at, they must be pan-pol'al. (c) They should be concerned with the future as well as the present. (d) They shout( provide comparisons of local, nat'l, & 'best practice' data. The indicators should report Ur conditions in 3 categories: (i) people as individuals-numbers, distribution, density, mobility, employment, income, behavior, health, & participation rates; (ii) Pam's-unemployment & welfare statistics' is & 'poverty neighborhood' studies; & (iii) his tit's-public service & voluntary org's, business, 1111, (,due, & Ur ecology. IIA.
Solving United States urban problems is an increasingly important concern of the public and of govern ment officials. Social science can make an important contribu tion to solutions by providing urban social indicators. Three general propositions concerning this process are: (1) Social scientists must be prepared for accusations of betrayal from proponents of causes which they have previously supported, if data conflict with objectives of such causes. (2) How indi cators are developed will influence at what level problems are resolved. (3) Social indicators will be developed by profes sors and government executives whose judgments will be based on a value-background different from that of the urban masses being measured. In the light of these propositions, four guidelines for social indicators are suggested: (1) They should be in the realm of disaggregation and correlation. (2) As they cannot be apolitical, they must be pan-political. (3) They should be concerned with the future as well as the present. (4) They should provide comparisons of local, national, and "best practice" data. The indicators should report urban conditions in three categories: (1) people as individuals— numbers, distribution, density, mobility, employment, income, behavior, health, and participation rates; (2) f amilies—un— employment and welfare statistics' correlations and "poverty neighborhood" studies; and (3) institutions—public service and voluntary organizations, business, mass media, education, and urban ecology.—Ed.
Many people believe that the future direction of modern cities will be considerably determined by the success or failure of New York City's present experimentations. When Mayor Lindsay's administration took office (1966), the city's fiscal affairs were in serious disorder, and the govern mental structure was chaotic and wasteful. For years, founda tions and special committees had been issuing reports calling for reform of the proliferation and duplication of agencies. Mayor Lindsay's administration has initiated fiscal reform and a sweeping governmental reorganization. Integrated with these programs is the Mayor's new program-planning-budget system which defines governmental programs actively in terms of evaluating alternative ways to reach program objectives. Fiscal experts agree that New York must receive substantially increased federal and state aid, and Mayor Lindsay is join ing with other city mayors to press for additional federal funds. The Mayor is also advocating greater regional ties for solving regional problems; increased home-rule powers; and Neigh borhood Mayors' Offices throughout the city. Improving the quality of and co-operation between the cities' agencies and setting up task forces independent of the bureaucracy will also be major goals. In the long run, however, the success of these reforms will depend on the judgment of the man at the top.—Ed.
The three-variable urban conditions index developed by Nathan and Fossett as a measurement of urban fiscal conditions is compared with the general obligation municipal bond ratings provided by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. for the largest cities in the United States and for 890 communities with populations over 10,000. Although communities considered to be less distressed by the index tend to have higher bond ratings, the relationship between the two measurements is not perfect. This outcome appears to result from differences in the weights attached to the urban conditions index variables and from the additional information in the larger set of variables included in bond-rating analysis. The implications of these differences for policy research are discussed.
