Urban Regime Capacity: A Comparison of Birmingham, England, and Detroit, Michigan

ABSTRACT:

Urban regime analysis has focused primarily on governance in US cities. This study takes a cross-national approach by investigating regime formation and capacity in the “Motor Cities” of Birmingham, England, and Detroit. The study concludes that the local polity is indeed important in both United States and United Kingdom contexts. The authors argue that regime analysis is equally useful in understanding urban governance within unitary systems such as Great Britain’s.