Urban Affairs Review

Gimpel, James G.; Newton, Jordon; Reeves, Andrew

doi: 10.1177/10780874251380677pmid: N/A

We consider how the high volume of short-distance migration within metropolitan areas contributes to partisan sorting across the United States. Compared to long-distance moves, these local moves involve many more individuals each year and thus have substantial potential to shape political geography. At the same time, short-distance moves set a high bar for any assortative hypothesis because local movers face more limited destination options. If one cannot find a more politically compatible neighborhood nearby, it may be impossible to move to one. We draw on voter records comparing movers and nonmovers within 215 metro areas across nine states. Our results show surprisingly high levels of sorting even when moves occur within the same core-based statistical area and state. These patterns persist even after accounting for other destination characteristics known to influence relocation. Short-distance moves contribute modestly but meaningfully to the growing political lopsidedness of many legislative districts between censuses.

Davies, Elizabeth Jordie

doi: 10.1177/10780874251380134pmid: N/A

Grassroots organizations often espouse multiracial solidarity as a value but struggle with putting this value into practice. How can organizations, especially those with a commitment to social justice, build bonds, and extend solidarity to activists across different racial identities? In this study, I espouse a theory of racial caucus organizing that discusses the process of operationalizing solidary within multiracial coalitions. I focus on one of the most diverse cities in the United States: Houston, Texas. Importantly, race-based caucuses require more than just making space for people of different identities; rather, they require specific forms of organizational structure. I argue that the process of race-based caucus organizing requires: establishing a power-shifting politic and praxis, exchanging resources, and fostering intersectional solidarity within racial groups. The findings in this study arise through a year of relationship building, observation, participation, and in-depth interviewing with Houston in Action, a nonpartisan multiracial coalition.

Finio, Nicholas; Gebru, Dominique; June-Friesen, Katy; Knaap, Gerrit-Jan

doi: 10.1177/10780874251380147pmid: N/A

The State of Maryland, through a public-private partnership, is building a new light rail line called the Purple Line. This project will greatly increase transit accessibility and increase land values in neighborhoods where many minority, low-income residents and small business owners may be vulnerable to displacement. The Purple Line Corridor Coalition (PLCC) was established in 2013 to balance equitable transit-oriented development against potential for displacement. In this paper, we analyze the structure, activities, and performance of the PLCC. Through a qualitative analysis lens based on collective impact theory, community coalition theory, collective impact regionalism, and community-based action research, we discuss whether and how it is possible for a multi-sectoral community coalition to influence equitable development outcomes before a planned transit line is operational. These findings, we suggest, offer useful lessons for others trying to promote equitable transit oriented development, or other forms of community development, though multi-sectoral community coalitions.

Stenberg, Matthew; O’Dwyer, Conor

doi: 10.1177/10780874251382453pmid: N/A

Between 2019 and 2020, amidst national-level democratic backsliding under the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, a wave of Polish municipal governments adopted a template of discriminatory policies, creating so-called “LGBT Free Zones” and countering a growing trend of “human rights cities.” What factors might explain this discriminatory diffusion? Drawing on three research traditions regarding diffusion—the social movement literature on direct/indirect linkages between individuals, an intergovernmentalist perspective on the kinds of relations between governmental units, and the Europeanization literature—we explain variation in the enactment of “zones” across 2,477 municipalities using a multinomial logit model. We find that local “zones” are most likely implemented, first, where direct channels link local elected officials to PiS's party network and, second, where higher-level units (counties) also implement “zones,” indicating that government-to-government networks also catalyze diffusion. Finally, we find diffusion less likely among geographic neighbors insofar as municipalities perceive enacting “zones” as costly.

Palma Tzakov, Iordan

doi: 10.1177/10780874251383814pmid: N/A

Policymakers often struggle with addressing urban pockets of distress, and place-based policies are increasingly discussed as a potential remedy. This article evaluates the impact of such a policy: the Metropolitan Development Initiative implemented by the Swedish government. The initiative included various interventions such as job search assistance, career counseling, and skills development programs, aiming to increase the labor supply of targeted residents—a type of place-based policy that has been scarcely researched. To assess the effects of the initiative, this study employs canonical difference-in-differences, supplemented by interaction-weighted estimators. The analysis focuses on labor participation as the key outcome variable, comparing individuals from targeted neighborhoods to a control group. The findings reveal substantial, significant, and enduring effects on foreign-born males, who on average exhibit a 3.3 percentage point increase in their probability of labor participation, with estimates remaining significant across all post-treatment periods. However, the results for foreign-born females are less definitive.

Lee, Amy; Millard-Ball, Adam; Manville, Michael

doi: 10.1177/10780874251385240pmid: N/A

In U.S. law, states can override actions of local governments that contravene state interests. In practice, preemptions are often more ambiguous nudges, and local responses can vary by interpretation and interests. This paper explores one such case of state preemption: California's 2022 law that limited local governments’ ability to require automobile parking. We find that the law's complexity and ambiguity created intense debates about interpretations, in all jurisdictions, leading to heterogeneous implementation across cities. Local interests also motivated strategic responses to the law, which we present in a threefold taxonomy: cities interested in parking reform used it as a springboard; cities interested in parking reform but facing local resistance used it as a protective shield; recalcitrant cities treated it as an obstacle or subverted the law. Our analysis shows that preemption is not as clear cut as it seems, and what conditions help and hinder changes in actual outcomes.

Spicer, Jason; Shatan, Nicholas; Williams, Olivia

doi: 10.1177/10780874251383819pmid: N/A

Community land trusts (CLTs) secure permanently affordable housing and enable community control over urban space. Some CLTs, however, have been criticized for being “technocratic” instead of “transformative.” If some CLTs are systematically more transformative than others, how do the logics and practices they claim to prioritize differ or converge, and to what consequence? Analyzing matched-pair cases of North American CLTs, “transformative” CLTs’ organizational repertoire is more likely to include six identified practices than “technocratic” counterparts. We suggest differences between these two approaches to organizing and governing urban space reflect “divergent coupling,” whereby logics are coupled to practices and discourses in two different ways across organizational subpopulations. We show how the case advances scholars’ claims that joint deployment of urban studies and organization studies yields mutual gains for both fields, with implications for urban policy and politics, as well.

Kim, Minjee; Kinahan, Kelly

doi: 10.1177/10780874251383861pmid: N/A

Understanding who wields power in local resource distribution is important because it can explain what types of policies are prioritized and who benefits from these policy choices. We analyze the decision-making processes of community redevelopment agencies (CRAs), which are special purpose districts created by local governments for economic and community development. We explore who sets their investment agenda, what factors explain their influence, and what policies are prioritized as a result. We deploy institutionalist theories of urban politics and governance to analyze CRAs in Florida's four largest cities: Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, and Tampa. We find that formal electoral institutions, geographies of CRA districts, and participatory governance institutions partially explain the distribution of power. Informal institutions mediated their effects by altering whose voices are considered and served as a check against the concentration and potential abuse of power. We conclude by identifying the institutional conditions that could foster more redistributive policies.

Ivanc, Taja; Petrovic, Adela

doi: 10.1177/10780874251393664pmid: N/A

Cultural spaces originating from former military sites often face institutional uncertainty and policy-driven commodification. While local governments frequently support social actors involved in the cultural production and regeneration of brownfields, this support usually diminishes once these spaces become profitable, leading to pressure to recreate rather than sustain their original purpose. This shift raises concerns about the integrity of cultural spaces and their precarious nature in governance and policy. By examining Kasárna Karlín and Metelkova, we aim to understand how and to what extent shifting urban policy priorities, institutional frameworks, governance structures, and power dynamics either facilitate or hinder the actions of social actors and the functioning of cultural spaces. Using actor-centered institutionalism, the study reveals that autonomy and tactical engagement can offer greater cultural resilience than formalized partnerships. These findings challenge assumptions about participatory governance and contribute to ongoing debates about the role of culture in urban redevelopment.

Einstein, Katherine Levine; Palmer, Maxwell; Hamilton, Ellis; Singer, Ethan

doi: 10.1177/10780874251371695pmid: N/A

Local elections are widely recognized as low turnout affairs compared with their national level counterparts. But, scholars have little systematic national data on the composition of the local electorate, and how compositional disparities may vary by context. In this article, we use a national voter file to compare turnout in general, midterm, and off-cycle local elections in over 500 cities. We provide novel estimates of turnout gaps by race, age, and homeownership status in local elections, and identify stark inequalities compared with national and state elections. We find sizable turnout gaps both by age and homeownership status at the local levels, far exceeding those in national contests. Turnout disparities by age and homeownership status are twice as large as those between Black and White voters, and are considerably larger in off-cycle contests.