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The local industry mix provides the conventional framework within which a city's economic position and prospects are evaluated and its redevelopment is planned. The industrial approach has been complemented here with an occupational-functional approach that measures the comparative advantage—competitive position—of a given urban area along five broad paths of economic development: entrepreneurship, central management, research and development, precision operations, and routine operations. Looking beyond the products a city makes to the roles it plays and the skills it performs shifts the emphasis from the immediate fortunes of a given industry and the direct flow of current income to the long-run power and potential of local resources, especially human resources. This new perspective is also more sensitive to state and local public policy, and illustrations are provided of the ways in which educational and other strategies have been used implicitly and could be planned more explicitly to guide cities through these most difficult years of industrial transition.

The local industry mix provides the conventional framework within which a city's economic position & prospects are evaluated & its redevelopment is planned. The industrial approach has been complemented here with an occupational-functional approach that measures the comparative advantage -- competitive position -- of a given Ur area along five broad paths of economic development: entrepreneurship, central management, research & development, precision operations, & routine operations. Looking beyond the products a city makes to the roles it plays & the skills it performs shifts emphasis from the immediate fortunes of a given industry & the direct flow of current income to the long-run power & potential of local resources, especially human resources. This new perspective is also more sensitive to state & local public policy. Illustrations are provided of ways in which educational & other strategies have been used implicitly & could be planned more explicitly to guide cities through the difficult years of industrial transition. In Questions and Answers, Thompson responds to several comments made by: Jean Marie Enrecq (Regional & Ur Planning, Nord-Pas-de Calais Regional Council, France), Yale Rabin (U of Virginia, Charlottesville), & Barbara A. Coscarello. Modified HA