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9781501700477

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In this book, Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd argue persuasively that the 'city of spectacle,' despite the critiques often made of it, offers significant benefits to the economy of Chicago and to its residents. This outcome, according to their interesting account, was the result of the construction of a powerful mayoralty by Richard M. Daley, which was not the consequence of either the inheritance of his father's machine or the operation of a power elite, but rather arose from Daley's astute manipulation of various constituencies, including Chicago's African American and Latino populations. -Susan S. Fainstein, Harvard Graduate School of Design, author of The Just City The sometimes impenetrable Mayor Daley is thoughtfully detailed, dissected, and critiqued in Building the City of Spectacle, which is a fun read, too!-Terry Nichols Clark, University of Chicago, editor of The City as an Entertainment Machine In Building the City of Spectacle, Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd critically assess the achievements and missteps of Richard M. Daley's mayoralty. In doing so they revisit fundamental debates in urban political economy: How much power does government have to influence the fortunes of cities in a globalized economy? Are the benefits of urban spectacles like Millennium Park and Navy Pier enjoyed widely or are they captured by tourists and elites? And do positive outcomes absolve the often ruthless tactics used to attain them? The authors make clear that, as a city builder, Daley belongs in a category with Daniel Burnham and Robert Moses-with just as many peccadillos and contradictions. -Rachel Weber, University of Illinois at Chicago, author of From Boom to Bubble Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd place Richard M. Daley's twenty-two-year mayoralty within the broader context of America's post-World War II saga of urban decline, tumult, and renaissance, making the case that Daley's approach to wresting Chicago from the postindustrial abyss was both calculated and efficacious, though not without engendering significant costs. It is unlikely that future interpreters of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century Chicago will challenge the fundamentals of their assessment. -Larry Bennett, DePaul University, author of The Third City Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd provide the definitive work on Richard M. Daley, the most important mayor of our time, and how he used arts, culture and more to revitalize the great city of Chicago. -Richard Florida, University Professor, University of Toronto, author of Rise of the Creative Class

"""In this book, Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd argue persuasively that the 'city of spectacle,' despite the critiques often made of it, offers significant benefits to the economy of Chicago and to its residents. This outcome, according to their interesting account, was the result of the construction of a powerful mayoralty by Richard M. Daley, which was not the consequence of either the inheritance of his father's machine or the operation of a power elite, but rather arose from Daley's astute manipulation of various constituencies, including Chicago's African American and Latino populations.""-Susan S. Fainstein, Harvard Graduate School of Design, author of The Just City ""The sometimes impenetrable Mayor Daley is thoughtfully detailed, dissected, and critiqued in Building the City of Spectacle, which is a fun read, too!-Terry Nichols Clark, University of Chicago, editor of The City as an Entertainment Machine ""In Building the City of Spectacle, Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd critically assess the achievements and missteps of Richard M. Daley's mayoralty. In doing so they revisit fundamental debates in urban political economy: How much power does government have to influence the fortunes of cities in a globalized economy? Are the benefits of urban spectacles like Millennium Park and Navy Pier enjoyed widely or are they captured by tourists and elites? And do positive outcomes absolve the often ruthless tactics used to attain them? The authors make clear that, as a city builder, Daley belongs in a category with Daniel Burnham and Robert Moses-with just as many peccadillos and contradictions.""-Rachel Weber, University of Illinois at Chicago, author of From Boom to Bubble ""Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd place Richard M. Daley's twenty-two-year mayoralty within the broader context of America's post-World War II saga of urban decline, tumult, and renaissance, making the case that Daley's approach to wresting Chicago from the postindustrial abyss was both calculated and efficacious, though not without engendering significant costs. It is unlikely that future interpreters of late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century Chicago will challenge the fundamentals of their assessment.""-Larry Bennett, DePaul University, author of The Third City ""Costas Spirou and Dennis R. Judd provide the definitive work on Richard M. Daley, the most important mayor of our time, and how he used arts, culture and more to revitalize the great city of Chicago.""-Richard Florida, University Professor, University of Toronto, author of Rise of the Creative Class"

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Costas Spirou is Professor and Chair of the Department of Government and Sociology at Georgia College & State University. He is the author of Urban Tourism and Urban Change: Cities in a Global Economy and coauthor of It's Hardly Sportin': Stadiums, Neighborhoods and the New Chicago. Dennis R. Judd is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is coauthor of Restructuring the City: The Political Economy of Urban Redevelopment and coeditor most recently of The City, Revisited: Urban Theory from Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.

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