The Emergence of Los Angeles: Population and Housing in the City of Dreams, 1940-1970

Abstract

expenditure, we have not moved forward very far from description of phenomena. This book moves us from population head counts to income counts, but it still neglects both detail relating to demographics, socio-economic composition, employment character, and any analysis of the administrative and political interactions. It is easy to be over optimistic of the benefits of widespread international collaboration, and perhaps the editors suffer considerably from the seeming demise of the previous project on European urban growth and decline for which one can only express sympathy. It is also easy to underestimate what has been achieved by generalizing concepts and definitions to Europe from the USA. But it seems inescapable that, as yet, this whole field of research requires much a deeper analysis of the forces of supply and demand, of the causes of rigidities, and of the role of administration, governmental and regulatory agencies. The (implicit) context of analyses so far employed is largely voluntarist: the driving force in the USA-for Berry, the continuing search for the American frontier-in Europe is translated into 'residential preference'. The new synthesis which has been introduced is a useful step forward, but the institutional, political and fiscal forces underlying the structure and constraints on preference have yet to yield to this research approach.