Back to Basics: Two Issue Areas for the Future Urban Politics Agenda

ABSTRACT:

This essay argues for the importance of two areas of inquiry in the future agenda of urban politics: urban infrastructure and urban policing. Both topical areas have deep roots in the field. However, this essay argues that we know less than we should about how varied institutional arrangements used to produce and manage urban infrastructure might help account for quality and equity problems of urban infrastructure. This essay also argues that urban politics research on local policing has diminished relative to contributions from other disciplines and the interdisciplinary criminal justice field, resulting in important substantive gaps and biases in topical coverage because the distinctive voice of political science is much too muted. The kinds of police-related research themes or topics that need additional work from an urban politics perspective are outlined.

An overpass in Medellin, Colombia. Photo courtesy of Laura Reese.

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Elaine B. Sharp

Elaine B. Sharp is professor of Political Science at the University of Kansas. Her research interests include local political participation and urban policy formation and implementation. She has recently authored the book Does Local Government Matter? How Urban Policies Shape Civic Engagement (University of Minnesota Press, 2012) and has authored or co-authored articles on economic development subsidies (Economic Development Quarterly) and urban sustainability policy (Urban Affairs Review) and a chapter on cultural conflicts and urban politics for the Oxford Handbook of Urban Politics.