US cities in transformation : Urban policy in an advanced economy

This article reports on the main findings of the work of the US National Research Council Committee on National Urban Policy. The committee concluded that the most important single force affecting the future of US cities was the structural transformation of the international and national economies. A new urban system is emerging in the USA, fuelled importantly by the growth of service and knowledge-based industries. Future urban policy in the USA should be incremental in nature-the efficacy of policies and institutional reforms will have to be judged in light of how well they address the impact of economic and market forces on urban areas.