In a time of political upheaval around the world, many jurisdictions are making changes to how they govern their cities in an attempt to redistribute (or appear to redistribute) power within those cities. Such changes can occur at a range of scales, with various aims, explicit or implicit. The UK is one such place, having experienced a particularly rapid series of changes over the last 10 years, at every scale, from national to community levels. This book provides, for the first time, comprehensive analysis of this period, looking in detail at the UK but situated within the broader international context.

The overall aim of the book is to analyse the overall effects of these recent reforms to city governance, explicitly considering whether they can be said to be progressive in nature. We do this through three objectives. The first is to present in one easily accessible volume comprehensive yet concise analysis of results of the changes to city governance that have been seen in the UK since 2010 (chosen as the latest in the series of ‘epochal’ years of substantial shift in approach – 1979 and 1997 being previous loci of change, as we discuss in subsequent chapters), at a range of scales. This is important for two reasons: (a) many of the changes that have been made provide important lessons for other jurisdictions which are making changes to their own city governance practices; and (b) UK governance has undergone extensive change over that period and no single point of reference exists which deals with that change in a comprehensive manner. The second objective is to consolidate and disseminate research in this field, and to disseminate new thinking about the overall implications of this research, to facilitate informed discussion and debate about changes to governance practices and the outcomes of those changes. The final objective is to challenge policy and practice in the field of city governance in the UK and internationally, to strengthen the evidence base for policy-makers to take decisions regarding reforms to governance practices.

By looking ‘from top to bottom’, that is, starting with the changing relationship between cities and their national governments, and moving from regional to local to community scales, this book deals with the totality of reforms to city governance that are variously badged as devolution, decentralisation and localism.