By: Susan Clarke 
In a rapidly transforming world, America's cities occupy a strategic position in the global web and play an increasing role in determining the quality of local citizenship. In this book, we move beyond scholarly debates and political disputes to survey the remarkable transformations in local economies as local citizens and leaders face the twenty-first century". Are cities obsolete relics of an earlier era? In this pathbreaking book, Susan E. Clarke and Gary L. Gaile contend that contrary to this conventional wisdom, cities are growing in importance. Far from irrelevant, local governments are vital political arenas for the new work of cities -- empowering their citizens to adapt and serve as catalysts for the global economy.