Urban decline

British cities are in decline. Population levels are falling, the industrial base is shrinking, and the governmental and financial powers and autonomy of cities are being eroded. The symptoms and consequences of this decline are the focus of daily attention, analysis and prescription in national and local news media. Inner urban decay, mass unemployment and falling standards of service provision are some of the more obvious and disturbing indicators of a general and deep-seated deterioration in the social, economic, political, and financial fabric of the city.

Urban Decline: The British Experience explores the consequences of the losses of population, employment, and local government powers which are currently being experienced by the nation's major cities. It argues that decline is a product of two largely separate trends: an urban to rural shift in the distribution of people and economic activity, and a centralisation of political power and responsibility for services. The former is a general and long-term trend which is affecting major cities in most of the countries of the developed world. The latter is more specific to Britain and is a product of Thatcherite policies which, in seeking to reduce the power and influence of left-wing urban authorities have undermined the basis of the local state. The deeply entrenched nature of contemporary urban decline, however, suggests that it will not be easy to reverse. Further losses of population and jobs can be expected and the implications both for the contracting cities, and for rural areas in which there are increasing pressures for development, are also considered by David Clark.

Urban Decline: The British Experience is written specifically for second and third year undergraduates taking courses in urban studies, planning, local government and policy studies. By combining an investigation into underlying social and economic trends with an analysis of the decline in their powers as units of government, it will be of value to students who are engaged in discipline-based studies as well as to those whose focus is upon the problems of the contemporary British city.