ABSTRACT
The 11 city case studies in this book have been brought together to offer, through discussion, a general agenda of policy issues to be pursued by cities whose economies are undergoing structural adjustment. Although seven of the cities are located in the older industrial areas of western Europe, and four are located in more recently developing national economies of Latin America and southern Africa, there is no implied suggestion that cities and their economies follow a predetermined chronological track. Neither is there any intention that a policy profile might be derived from the city case studies that would accurately meet the needs of a city such as Bombay. Although there have been many attempts to identify good practice by city governments, and by public-private partnerships, in confronting the problems that result from economic structural adjustment, the transfer of policies from one context to another is a process with some dangers. Differing resource levels, political and administrative structures and even geographical locations may mean that an approach or a policy successful in one city may be less successful, or just infeasible, elsewhere. Although the problems of cities undergoing structural adjustment may be easy to identify and fairly ubiquitous-a decline in manufacturing, rising unemployment, inner-city decay and dereliction in industrial and port areas, and strong negative social effects-a single policy prescription is unlikely to meet the needs of all, or even most cities.
