Power and urban governance

The significance of cities as concentrations of political and economic power can hardly be overstated. Cities project power on the global stage and are recognized as powerful actors by others: anchoring revolutions and giving their names to historical epochs and intellectual traditions (Chicago or Frankfurt) and even phases of economic development. The power of the city on the historical and global stages makes it even more important to study and grasp the way urban power is conceived, constructed, contested and exercised within and between cities. The premise of the chapter is that cities, urban arenas and urbanization dynamics remain crucial sources of power and governing resources today, though the perspectives we discuss diverge radically in their claims, and the significance they impart to urban governance. Urban Studies has become a truly global interdisciplinary field, through which perspectives on power and urban governance have multiplied and diversified. The chapter introduces key traditions, exploring three distinct and internally differentiated bodies of thought: Marxism, neo-institutionalism and post-colonialism. It begins by discussing prominent traditions within or related to urban Marxism: state theory, planetary urbanism and horizontalist approaches. It then discusses recent institutionalist perspectives, finally considering the growing influence of post-colonial perspectives questioning dominant ‘northern’accounts of the city and urbanity. The chapter concludes by suggesting pathways for future research.