This book is an authoritative overview and discussion of key themes in contemporary urban policy evaluation. The rapid introduction of new urban policy initiatives looks set to continue in the UK, while there is increasing interest in both North America and Europe in cross-national comparisons, and the possibilities of transferable practice. This volume focuses on current urban policy evaluation practice, placing the UK in an European context. The authors address key issues in the methodology and politics of evaluation: quantitative and qualitative evaluation and the ways in which institutional and political realities can affect this. The authors put forward examples of pluralistic evaluation. A final section considers the role of cross-national comparisons in urban policy evaluation. Analysis of urban and regional change has been a major theme in social science research for more than a decade. As a result there is extensive theory and evidence about the way in which economic, social and political forces shape urban fortunes.
Urban Policy Evaluation - Robin Hambleton and Huw Thomas The Contours of the Debate PART ONE: URBAN POLICY IN CONTEXT The Changing Context for British Urban Policy - Paul Burton and Martin Boddy An Evaluation of Urban Policy - Michael Bradford and Brian Robson Public Expenditure Management in Urban Regeneration - Murray Stewart Urban Policy and Urban Evaluation - Michael Chapman The Impact of the European Union PART TWO: METHODOLOGY AND DILEMMAS IN URBAN POLICY EVALUATION Measurement, Understanding and Perception - Peter Meyer The Conflicting 'Realities' The Evaluation of Urban Policy Project Appraisal - Steve Martin and Graham Pearce Developing Quantitative Indicators for Urban and Regional Policy Analysis - Cecilia Wong Changes in Local Governance and their Implications for Urban Policy Evaluation - Rob Imrie and Huw Thomas PART THREE: PLURALISTIC EVALUATION IN PRACTICE Evaluating Competitive Urban Policy - Nick Oatley and Christine Lambert The City Challenge Initiative City Challenge - a Sustainable Mechanism or Temporary Gesture? - Simin Davoudi and Patsy Healey A Comparative Assessment of Government Approaches to Partnership with the Local Community - Annette Hastings and Andrew McArthur PART FOUR: THE ROLE OF CROSS-NATIONAL COMPARISONS Reviving the Valleys? Urban Renewal and Governance Structures in Wales - Kevin Morgan Urban Policy in England and France - Howard Green and Philip Booth Robin Hambleton Cross-National Urban Policy Transfer - Insights from the USA
`The contributions vary from the pedestrian (but useful and systematic) through to the offbeat and original. There is something for everyone here' - Local Government Studies `This collection identifies a series of issues which lie at the core of urban policy and its evaluation and as such it deserves to be read by anyone claiming a serious interest in the subject' - International Planning Studies `The book manages to provide a useful and coherent account of contemporary issues in urban policy as well as a welcome consideration of its evaluation' - William Walton, University of Aberdeen `A body of useful case-study material and the development of important methodological issues which are not often tackled in the literature in regard to researching the urban context' - Environment and Planning `It is up-to-date, readable, and provides an impression of academics' current thinking on urban policy. I imagine it will be widely recommended as a key text for Urban Studies courses, as well as being a source of reference for research work' - European Urban and Regional Studies
