Making the Case for Cities

Abstract

PETER DREIER is E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and director of the Public Policy Program at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He chairs the American Sociological Association's Spivack Program on Applied Public Policy. From 1984 to 1992, he served as Housing Director for the Boston Redevelopment Authority and senior policy adviser to Mayor Raymond Flynn. experts view the recent Republican take-over of Congress as the death knell for policy. After all, Speaker Newt Gingrich like most other Republican leaders in the House represents a conservative suburban district. Indeed, the Republicans won, at least in part, by running against urban issues welfare, subsidized housing, social programs, crime, and government spending in general. But a fresh debate among urbanists economists, sociologists, political scientists, planners, and others is challenging the takenfor-granted vs. paradigm. According to several new books and research studies, the fate of cities and their suburbs is inextricably intertwined. They argue that, just as healthy cities and robust suburbs go hand in hand, decay contributes to suburban decline. In other words, the rationale for federal efforts to revitalize cities should not depend on charity, compassion, or even riot insurance. Instead, it should be recognized that metropolitan regions (cities and suburbs) are critical players in the global economy. Almost like simultaneous discovery, social scientists and policymakers have begun looking at cities as potent players in national life not as social and economic orphans that need coddling and compassion. Compared with a generation ago, fewer people now live, work, or shop in our cities. But the researchers argue that cities still play a major role in our metropolitan areas one that cannot be replaced by suburbs. In fact, cities perform at least three critical economic func-

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