Throughout this volume certain themes recur as key components of the urban crisis: among them widespread national poverty, the inextricable link between poverty and race, and the necessity for the national government to provide the resources, leadership and planning to combat urban problems.

′I can recommend the book highly. There is much material that is extremely useful in it, the essays have a high level of excellence and, on balance, the book is a careful and sober assessment of the present status of the central city.′ -- American Political Science Review, Vol 64, June 1980