Since the 1950s and the advance of urban renewal, local governments and urban policy have focused heavily on the central business district. However, such development has all but ignored the inner-city neighborhoods that continue to struggle in the shadows of high-rise America. This analysis of urban neighborhoods in the United States from 1960 to 1995 presents fifteen essays by scholars of urban planning and development. Together they show how urban neighborhoods can and must be preserved as economic, cultural, and political centers.

The contributors to this international and comparative volume assess the role of urban leadership in guiding and promoting the economic regeneration of twelve older industrial cities: Baltimore, Buffalo, Glasgow, Hamburg, Houston, Liverpool, Marseille, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Rennes, Sheffield and Vancouver. Each chapter describes the ways in which urban elites have responded to declining local economies and to changes in national policy. The contributors, who have lived and worked in the countries described, offer unique insight into the role of leadership and the impact of economic change on cities. The introductory essay by the editors provides a framework for students and policy-makers by identifying the common features among the industri