And this may lead to social exclusion, even polarisation, which - through poverty, crime and declining quality of life - may threaten their continued economic success. So the new political challenge is to reconcile competitiveness and cohesion, through the fine art of urban governance. Working Capital puts these three key concepts - competitiveness, cohesion, governance - under the research microscope. London is the ideal subject: hailed as the world's one truly global city, it has proved outstandingly successful, yet is marred by increasing inequality and deprivation. And, between Mrs Thatcher's abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986 and Tony Blair's creation of the new Greater London Authority in 2000, it was the laboratory for a myriad of experiments in network governance. Using the formula Booth made famous - a combination of broad, region-wide statistical analysis and interviews with real people in real places These conclusions will be central in examination of the Mayor's new London Plan, published in June 2002, and in planning and policy-making across the London boroughs.
But they will be relevant far beyond London's borders: for other UK cities, for cities on the European mainland, and indeed for cities across the world. Working Capital will be essential reading for all who care about cities. Belinda Brown, Karen O'Reilly, Gareth Potts, Laura Smethurst, Jo Sparkes
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