Pub Date : 2023-08-13DOI: 10.1177/10780874231194937
Christopher A. Cooper, Heather Rimes
Municipal policy leadership is shared between managers, city councilors, and mayors, all of whom vary in institutional power and resources across municipalities. Corresponding with their importance, scholars have established consistent measures of professionalism for Mayors and City Managers. Unfortunately, there is no parallel measure of professionalism for city councils. After reviewing the role of councils in local policy leadership and establishing the need for a systematic measure of local legislative professionalism, this paper uses data from over 4,000 municipalities to develop a measure of legislative professionalism for city councils. We demonstrate that considerable variation exists in levels of professionalism among local legislatures and describe the implications of this variation for questions of municipal policy leadership and local legislative representation.
{"title":"Towards a Measure of Local Legislative Professionalism","authors":"Christopher A. Cooper, Heather Rimes","doi":"10.1177/10780874231194937","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231194937","url":null,"abstract":"Municipal policy leadership is shared between managers, city councilors, and mayors, all of whom vary in institutional power and resources across municipalities. Corresponding with their importance, scholars have established consistent measures of professionalism for Mayors and City Managers. Unfortunately, there is no parallel measure of professionalism for city councils. After reviewing the role of councils in local policy leadership and establishing the need for a systematic measure of local legislative professionalism, this paper uses data from over 4,000 municipalities to develop a measure of legislative professionalism for city councils. We demonstrate that considerable variation exists in levels of professionalism among local legislatures and describe the implications of this variation for questions of municipal policy leadership and local legislative representation.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45236094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-08-01DOI: 10.1177/10780874231191702
J. Alonso, Rhys Andrews
City deals – place-based agreements between central and local state actors – are an increasingly common intervention for supporting economic performance in urban areas. This paper presents empirical evidence on the effectiveness of city deals by estimating the impact of the UK's City Deals scheme on rates of economic growth, productivity and job creation across England between 2010 and 2019. Because the City Deals were introduced in two waves, we estimate its effects using a differences-in-differences (DiD) with multiple time periods (MTPs) approach. Our DiD estimates indicate that, overall, the City Deals were associated with improvements in local economic performance, but that the first wave of city deals resulted in gains of around 2.5% to 3% that were not observed in the second wave. These results suggest that city deals are most effective when appropriate institutional structures are in place and highlight the value of MTP approaches.
{"title":"Can City Deals Improve Economic Performance? Evidence from England","authors":"J. Alonso, Rhys Andrews","doi":"10.1177/10780874231191702","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231191702","url":null,"abstract":"City deals – place-based agreements between central and local state actors – are an increasingly common intervention for supporting economic performance in urban areas. This paper presents empirical evidence on the effectiveness of city deals by estimating the impact of the UK's City Deals scheme on rates of economic growth, productivity and job creation across England between 2010 and 2019. Because the City Deals were introduced in two waves, we estimate its effects using a differences-in-differences (DiD) with multiple time periods (MTPs) approach. Our DiD estimates indicate that, overall, the City Deals were associated with improvements in local economic performance, but that the first wave of city deals resulted in gains of around 2.5% to 3% that were not observed in the second wave. These results suggest that city deals are most effective when appropriate institutional structures are in place and highlight the value of MTP approaches.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45954863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-25DOI: 10.1177/10780874231189669
Nooreen Fatima, J. Josephson
Community organizations that have historically depended upon in-person organizing methods faced particular challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. We studied a U.S.-based network of community organizations to examine how they did their organizing work during the pandemic. Based on data collection of public information about the organizations and semi-structured interviews with key leaders, we studied the methods of organizing and the organizations’ use of various tools, digital and otherwise, and asked leaders about how the experience of organizing during the pandemic might change their future approach to organizing. We found that these organizations were able to continue their work in part because they already had established relationships among leaders and were able to adapt their familiar organizing tools to the new situation, effectively engaging in “reorganizing” during the pandemic.
{"title":"Pandemic-Era Organizing","authors":"Nooreen Fatima, J. Josephson","doi":"10.1177/10780874231189669","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231189669","url":null,"abstract":"Community organizations that have historically depended upon in-person organizing methods faced particular challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic. We studied a U.S.-based network of community organizations to examine how they did their organizing work during the pandemic. Based on data collection of public information about the organizations and semi-structured interviews with key leaders, we studied the methods of organizing and the organizations’ use of various tools, digital and otherwise, and asked leaders about how the experience of organizing during the pandemic might change their future approach to organizing. We found that these organizations were able to continue their work in part because they already had established relationships among leaders and were able to adapt their familiar organizing tools to the new situation, effectively engaging in “reorganizing” during the pandemic.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44480051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-19DOI: 10.1177/10780874231187131
Bai Linh Hoang, Andrea Benjamin
In this research note, we investigate the degree to which local governments reduced or expanded the budgets of police departments in the aftermath of the nation-wide protests organized by the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020. We also consider the political and social factors that might explain local councils’ decisions on the budget. In analyzing an original dataset of about 100 of the most populous U.S. cities, we do not find strong evidence of government efforts to “defund” the police. However, across various specifications of potential responsiveness to the movement's demands, we do find that mayoral partisanship may be associated with local government decisions to meaningfully reduce their police budgets or abstain from increasing them, but even this relationship may not be sustained in the longer term. Thus, we encourage more research on barriers that potentially inhibit local government responsiveness to social movements like Black Lives Matter.
{"title":"“Defund” or “Refund” the Police?: City Council Responsiveness to the Black Lives Matter Protests","authors":"Bai Linh Hoang, Andrea Benjamin","doi":"10.1177/10780874231187131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231187131","url":null,"abstract":"In this research note, we investigate the degree to which local governments reduced or expanded the budgets of police departments in the aftermath of the nation-wide protests organized by the Black Lives Matter movement during the summer of 2020. We also consider the political and social factors that might explain local councils’ decisions on the budget. In analyzing an original dataset of about 100 of the most populous U.S. cities, we do not find strong evidence of government efforts to “defund” the police. However, across various specifications of potential responsiveness to the movement's demands, we do find that mayoral partisanship may be associated with local government decisions to meaningfully reduce their police budgets or abstain from increasing them, but even this relationship may not be sustained in the longer term. Thus, we encourage more research on barriers that potentially inhibit local government responsiveness to social movements like Black Lives Matter.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49010046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-15DOI: 10.1177/10780874231169923
Zachary Small, Jennifer S. Minner
Local governments view land banks as an improvement to the municipal management of foreclosed property. Critics contend that land banks wield too much power, concentrate demolitions in poor and majority neighborhoods of color, and have unfortunate parallels to the flawed, top-down policies of mid-twentieth century urban renewal. Examining land banks through a lens of social equity and reparative planning, this research asks “To what extent do land banks in New York state work toward equitable urban development?” Interviews with land-bank leaders, property acquisition and disposition data, and spatial analysis of neighborhood dynamics were triangulated in a comparative case study of three land banks in New York state communities. Although land-bank leaders show an awareness and desire to address issues of equity, the authors observed that more community engagement, expanding partnerships with nonprofits, and shifts in approaches to demolition could provide more equitable outcomes in disinvested communities. Some land banks had clearly adopted policies aimed to acknowledge and address the role land banks can and should play in addressing historical inequities. Whether that commitment to equity will remain strong into the future remains an open question. In a COVID-19 context, land banks were operating with significantly reduced inventories and resources. More resources could be provided to land banks from Federal and State sources to support equity initiatives. But those resources should be provided under the condition that land banks become vehicles for repairing past White supremacist and structurally racist policies that created the uneven landscapes that land banks were created to address.
{"title":"Do Land Banks Mean Progress Toward Socially Equitable Urban Development? Observations from New York State","authors":"Zachary Small, Jennifer S. Minner","doi":"10.1177/10780874231169923","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231169923","url":null,"abstract":"Local governments view land banks as an improvement to the municipal management of foreclosed property. Critics contend that land banks wield too much power, concentrate demolitions in poor and majority neighborhoods of color, and have unfortunate parallels to the flawed, top-down policies of mid-twentieth century urban renewal. Examining land banks through a lens of social equity and reparative planning, this research asks “To what extent do land banks in New York state work toward equitable urban development?” Interviews with land-bank leaders, property acquisition and disposition data, and spatial analysis of neighborhood dynamics were triangulated in a comparative case study of three land banks in New York state communities. Although land-bank leaders show an awareness and desire to address issues of equity, the authors observed that more community engagement, expanding partnerships with nonprofits, and shifts in approaches to demolition could provide more equitable outcomes in disinvested communities. Some land banks had clearly adopted policies aimed to acknowledge and address the role land banks can and should play in addressing historical inequities. Whether that commitment to equity will remain strong into the future remains an open question. In a COVID-19 context, land banks were operating with significantly reduced inventories and resources. More resources could be provided to land banks from Federal and State sources to support equity initiatives. But those resources should be provided under the condition that land banks become vehicles for repairing past White supremacist and structurally racist policies that created the uneven landscapes that land banks were created to address.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45162340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-13DOI: 10.1177/10780874231177628
Brittany Davis, Kirk A. Foster, Ronald O. Pitner, Nikki R. Wooten, Mary L. Ohmer
Gentrification has been identified as a phenomenon that involves impacts on space and place. Particularly, gentrification's social and cultural impacts involve disrupted meanings residents associate with spaces. Although space and place dynamics of gentrification have been well-documented, gentrification research has primarily involved traditional quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. These traditional approaches have not fully captured the nuanced ways space and place dimensions of gentrification converge in their impacts on residents. Also, traditional approaches have limited most gentrification research to theory and descriptions, as opposed to action and practice. To this end, innovative, integrated methodologies are needed for a paradigm shift in how gentrification is examined and addressed. In this article, we illustrate the use of photovoice and Geographic Information Systems’ Story Map as an integrated methodological approach to examining and fostering action against gentrification's space-place impacts. We provide strengths and challenges of this approach and recommendations for future research.
{"title":"Innovating Methodologies for Examining Gentrification-Induced Social and Cultural Displacement: An Illustration of Integrating Photovoice into Story Map","authors":"Brittany Davis, Kirk A. Foster, Ronald O. Pitner, Nikki R. Wooten, Mary L. Ohmer","doi":"10.1177/10780874231177628","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231177628","url":null,"abstract":"Gentrification has been identified as a phenomenon that involves impacts on space and place. Particularly, gentrification's social and cultural impacts involve disrupted meanings residents associate with spaces. Although space and place dynamics of gentrification have been well-documented, gentrification research has primarily involved traditional quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. These traditional approaches have not fully captured the nuanced ways space and place dimensions of gentrification converge in their impacts on residents. Also, traditional approaches have limited most gentrification research to theory and descriptions, as opposed to action and practice. To this end, innovative, integrated methodologies are needed for a paradigm shift in how gentrification is examined and addressed. In this article, we illustrate the use of photovoice and Geographic Information Systems’ Story Map as an integrated methodological approach to examining and fostering action against gentrification's space-place impacts. We provide strengths and challenges of this approach and recommendations for future research.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43777702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-08DOI: 10.1177/10780874231180812
Julien van Ostaaijen
One of the questions when undertaking comparative research into local politics and processes of collective organization is what frame should be used. In recent decades, many scholars have opted for the urban regime. There is however much debate about the usefulness of this concept for comparative purposes, with the urban regime accused of being theoretically both too narrow as well as too general. In three Dutch case studies, researchers have sought a middle way by applying the urban regime's four building blocks (agenda, coalition, resources, and scheme of cooperation) as a heuristic framework. The results show that this approach has several advantages, especially for comparative purposes, as it provides a clear oversight as to which agendas dominate where and when, and how certain coalitions, resources, and schemes of cooperation align. These benefits however require close attention to certain points: researchers should interpret the building blocks consistently and try to avoid overlap and repetition between them.
{"title":"Agendas, Coalitions, Resources, and Schemes of Cooperation: Using the Urban Regime Framework to Study Processes of Urban Governance","authors":"Julien van Ostaaijen","doi":"10.1177/10780874231180812","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231180812","url":null,"abstract":"One of the questions when undertaking comparative research into local politics and processes of collective organization is what frame should be used. In recent decades, many scholars have opted for the urban regime. There is however much debate about the usefulness of this concept for comparative purposes, with the urban regime accused of being theoretically both too narrow as well as too general. In three Dutch case studies, researchers have sought a middle way by applying the urban regime's four building blocks (agenda, coalition, resources, and scheme of cooperation) as a heuristic framework. The results show that this approach has several advantages, especially for comparative purposes, as it provides a clear oversight as to which agendas dominate where and when, and how certain coalitions, resources, and schemes of cooperation align. These benefits however require close attention to certain points: researchers should interpret the building blocks consistently and try to avoid overlap and repetition between them.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46458428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-06DOI: 10.1177/10780874231175841
Michelle E. Zuñiga, M. Méndez
At the center of demands for cleaner air, water, and soil in communities disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards, are often cities and counties. Local jurisdictions are uniquely positioned to shape policies and engage with residents in processes that can transform land-use patterns that have negatively impacted low-income, people of color communities. This study assesses the approaches to environmental justice (EJ) that California local jurisdictions with high levels of cumulative environmental health impact are developing in their general plans, under Senate Bill 1000. Results indicate positive outcomes such as the establishment of EJ advisory committees. However, findings also underscore challenges such as a lack of political support from elected officials and minimal resources to implement measures. We find that most general plans include EJ considerations, however, there are concerns regarding how their implementation will unfold. We provide practice-based recommendations to assist planners across the nation working to develop effective EJ considerations.
{"title":"The Emergence of Environmental Justice in General Plans: Lessons From California's Senate Bill 1000","authors":"Michelle E. Zuñiga, M. Méndez","doi":"10.1177/10780874231175841","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231175841","url":null,"abstract":"At the center of demands for cleaner air, water, and soil in communities disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards, are often cities and counties. Local jurisdictions are uniquely positioned to shape policies and engage with residents in processes that can transform land-use patterns that have negatively impacted low-income, people of color communities. This study assesses the approaches to environmental justice (EJ) that California local jurisdictions with high levels of cumulative environmental health impact are developing in their general plans, under Senate Bill 1000. Results indicate positive outcomes such as the establishment of EJ advisory committees. However, findings also underscore challenges such as a lack of political support from elected officials and minimal resources to implement measures. We find that most general plans include EJ considerations, however, there are concerns regarding how their implementation will unfold. We provide practice-based recommendations to assist planners across the nation working to develop effective EJ considerations.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48102230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-29DOI: 10.1177/10780874231175837
Rachel M. Krause, S. M. Fatemi, Le Anh Nguyen Long, Gwen Arnold, Sarah L. Hofmeyer
Surveys are an important vehicle for advancing research on urban policy and governance. The introduction of online tools eased survey-based data collection, making it cheaper and easier to obtain data from key informants like local elected officials or public administrators. However, the utility of web-based survey administration may be diminishing. To investigate this dynamic and search for strategies to support survey research in urban studies, we perform a systematic review of survey research in urban policy and administration scholarship and conduct an original survey follow-up experiment. Our findings identify a clear downward trend in survey response rates that was accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from our survey experiment show distinctly different costs per solicitation and per completed survey, depending on administration mode. These findings stimulate discussion on how scholars may continue to use surveys to generate high-quality, empirically rigorous research on urban affairs in light of recent trends.
{"title":"What is the Future of Survey-Based Data Collection for Local Government Research? Trends, Strategies, and Recommendations","authors":"Rachel M. Krause, S. M. Fatemi, Le Anh Nguyen Long, Gwen Arnold, Sarah L. Hofmeyer","doi":"10.1177/10780874231175837","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231175837","url":null,"abstract":"Surveys are an important vehicle for advancing research on urban policy and governance. The introduction of online tools eased survey-based data collection, making it cheaper and easier to obtain data from key informants like local elected officials or public administrators. However, the utility of web-based survey administration may be diminishing. To investigate this dynamic and search for strategies to support survey research in urban studies, we perform a systematic review of survey research in urban policy and administration scholarship and conduct an original survey follow-up experiment. Our findings identify a clear downward trend in survey response rates that was accentuated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from our survey experiment show distinctly different costs per solicitation and per completed survey, depending on administration mode. These findings stimulate discussion on how scholars may continue to use surveys to generate high-quality, empirically rigorous research on urban affairs in light of recent trends.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46610024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-25DOI: 10.1177/10780874231174510
Richardson Dilworth, M. Sidney
Several articles examine dimensions of representation in urban democracies. In a study of local government hearings in Massachusetts, Einstein et al. (2023) ask whether meeting structure—namely if a meeting is held in-person or on Zoom—can increase the diversity of participants. The answer, it seems, is no: In the planning and zoning board meetings held on Zoom in nearly one hundred Massachusetts cities, there was no significant difference in the representativeness of participants on Zoom compared to in-person meetings. Like in-person hearings, nearly all residents who offered comments by Zoom opposed affordable housing. Older people, white people, and homeowners were vastly overrepresented. Although online meeting formats reduced some barriers to participation, they did not attract a broader range of people or ideas. Two additional articles probe questions related to the relationship between gender and urban democracy. Tolley, Lawlor, and Fortier-Chouinard (2023) consider how voters assess women and men running for mayor in Canadian cities. Contrary to the idea that local office would be more hospitable to women, as they would be perceived as “well-suited” to local issues, voters assessed women mayoral candidates more negatively than male candidates. The authors describe a double-bind: voters’ negative comments about women candidates employed masculine terms such as “assertive” or “aggressive;” yet these same terms were viewed positively when attached to male candidates. At the same time, when voters perceived women candidates as having “feminine” traits such as kindness or approachability, those traits were not perceived as valuable for leadership positions. The authors suggest that voters’ assessments change when they know more about the candidates, but that the low visibility and generally low media coverage of local Letter from the Editors
{"title":"An Introduction to Volume 59, Issue 4","authors":"Richardson Dilworth, M. Sidney","doi":"10.1177/10780874231174510","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231174510","url":null,"abstract":"Several articles examine dimensions of representation in urban democracies. In a study of local government hearings in Massachusetts, Einstein et al. (2023) ask whether meeting structure—namely if a meeting is held in-person or on Zoom—can increase the diversity of participants. The answer, it seems, is no: In the planning and zoning board meetings held on Zoom in nearly one hundred Massachusetts cities, there was no significant difference in the representativeness of participants on Zoom compared to in-person meetings. Like in-person hearings, nearly all residents who offered comments by Zoom opposed affordable housing. Older people, white people, and homeowners were vastly overrepresented. Although online meeting formats reduced some barriers to participation, they did not attract a broader range of people or ideas. Two additional articles probe questions related to the relationship between gender and urban democracy. Tolley, Lawlor, and Fortier-Chouinard (2023) consider how voters assess women and men running for mayor in Canadian cities. Contrary to the idea that local office would be more hospitable to women, as they would be perceived as “well-suited” to local issues, voters assessed women mayoral candidates more negatively than male candidates. The authors describe a double-bind: voters’ negative comments about women candidates employed masculine terms such as “assertive” or “aggressive;” yet these same terms were viewed positively when attached to male candidates. At the same time, when voters perceived women candidates as having “feminine” traits such as kindness or approachability, those traits were not perceived as valuable for leadership positions. The authors suggest that voters’ assessments change when they know more about the candidates, but that the low visibility and generally low media coverage of local Letter from the Editors","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45029091","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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