The Politics of Growth-Oriented Urban Alliances

Abstract

This article applies major propositions about local growth politics to two types of cities and to an extended time frame normally absent in previous studies. Houston typifies the "new," or Sunbelt, city, and Milwaukee represents the "old" manufacturing centers of the North. Findings indicate that both cities historically have relied heavily on public-private partnerships to promote emerging sectors of the economy. However, the composition and strategies of their growth-oriented alliances varied significantly over time. The data also suggest revising assumptions about federal programs, finance capital, political entrepreneurs, and the links between public agencies and private business in the prevailing model of growth-oriented elites.