ABSTRACT
The post-political cities concept developed in the context of British and European cities is used here to analyse neighbourhood regeneration policies in Denver, Colorado (USA), 1980-2012. The post-political cities concept provides a critical view on the links of localism to governance and democracy. This chapter describes the adequacy of the post-politics schema for understanding policy change in Denver, and indirectly in other American cities, after a brief comment on localism in the American context. The meaning of localism in the American context is dynamic and complex. So localism is built into the American governmental system but localism more commonly refers to trends towards decentralizing authority and power to subnational governments. While Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are in place in many American cities, their introduction to Denver shifted the city away from its distributional focus to emphasize the use of city Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to leverage private investment in distressed neighbourhoods.
