ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a set of topics which have long attracted the attention of urbanists and urban historians, the growth and 'reform' of urban local government, centre-local relationships, public health and pollution, local government finance, the nature of local social élites and of participation in local government. It shows the variety of ways in which the ordering of order could be produced and in which policies and services could be delivered. The book outlines the patterns of governance which shows the variety of structures within which services were delivered. The delivery of the same service took place in many different ways. Rugg's study showed that burial of the dead changed in response to the pressures of urban growth but could be delivered in a variety of ways ranging from old parish religious institutional based structures to commercial or modified commercial structures.
