ABSTRACT
British urban policy over the past 25 years can best be characterized as the search for appropriate responses to political opposition and social unrest resulting from rapid economic restructuring at the local level. The increasing trend towards the globalization of capital has brought successive waves of restructuring, disinvestment and reinvestment, which have impacted most significantly on the major urban conurbations. The State has responded by devising policy measures to revitalize sectors of the economy, attract inward investment, and to ameliorate or modify adverse impacts through largely supply-side measures. However, within this broad thrust there have been significant fluctuations in the underlying philosophy and purpose of policy. This book has charted some of these variations by examining the concept of partnership in the wider context of urban policy in general.
