Remaking Chicago: The Political Origins of Urban Industrial Change

Examining Chicago as a model for urban economic development in the post-World War II era, Rast counters the assumption that structural economic change has forced cities to convert manufacturing districts to corporate service functions in order to remain fiscally viable. Rast instead argues that cities are faced with multiple economic development choices and that politics have played a fundamental role in choosing among them.

During the 1960s and 1970s, a coalition of city officials and downtow…