Short Guide to Urban Policy

Claire Edwards is Lecturer in the School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork. Her teaching and research interests focus around urban policy, critical disability studies, and sociologies of health and illness. She recently completed an EU-funded project exploring the role of patients’ organisations in the governance of medical knowledge.Rob Imrie is Chair of Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London, and the director of a European Research Council funded project (2013-16) investigating universal design, disability and the designed environment.

• Introduction;The urban challenge;Understanding urban policy;Whose right to the city?;Privatisation and entrepreneurial urban policy;Community planning and partnership;Culture and the creative city;Urban renaissance and sustainable urban development;Urban recovery and the future for cities;Postscript;Keeping up to date.

"A staunchly critical and comprehensive primer on the political logics and dynamics of dominant urban policy forms. This excellent text is accessible and engaging, historically grounded and well resourced. A must-read for students of urban studies, urban governance and urban geography." Pauline McGuirk, The University of Newcastle, Australia "Engaging reading...chapters build on a variety of case studies, suggested recommeded readings and provide web links, which all provide useful resources for readers seeking to enter the urban policy field in the context of Western cities." Environment and Urbanization "An ideal introductory text: Comprehensive - covering an impressive array of topics - yet concise; sophisticated, yet decidedly accessible to undergraduates as well as reflective practitioners. An excellent primer for those on both sides of the Atlantic" David Imbroscio, University of Louisville, USA, author of Urban America Reconsidered "An engaging and wide-ranging introduction to urban policy, which highlights debates about the nature of the city and urban life, thoughtfully reflecting on possible urban futures and the policy implications associated with them." Allan Cochrane, The Open University