Co-Crafting the Just City

James A. Throgmorton is Emeritus Professor, School of Planning and Public Affairs, The University of Iowa. He served on the Iowa City Council from 2012 through 2019 and was elected Mayor in 2016.

"To govern democratically requires maneuvering among diverse passions and interests. Throgmorton deftly brings his readers into the midst of the delicate balances that must be negotiated so that cities can be effectively and justly governed. Co-Crafting the Just City is an impressive capstone to a career spent exploring the many pathways to the practices of progressive and democratic change." Robert A. Beauregard, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University, USA"This insightful and complex account reveals how Jim Throgmorton struggled with class and economic inequalities, and with racial and cultural politics too, to craft a more inclusive, resilient and just city." John Forester, Professor, Cornell University, USA"This book provides a much needed insiders’ view in political decision-making in a relatively small American city. The fine-grained story illustrates how a mayor with a planning background was instrumental in crafting the city’s future for the benefit of ordinary citizens." Louis Albrechts, Emeritus Professor of Planning, University of Leuven, Belgium"This is a really valuable record, not just of the life of a Councillor and Mayor, but of the mechanics and dynamics of small town city government in the US. Throgmorton shows through his experience how cities are constructed through multiple webs of relations, and highlights the importance of building relationships and networks if new ideas and ways of working are to become established practices." Patsy Healey, Emeritus Professor of Planning, Newcastle University, UK

• 1. Introduction: City Crafting in a Contested Age 2. Trying to Be a Team Player, 2012-13 3. Turning toward the Just City, 2014-15 4. City Crafting as Mayor, 2016-19 5. Two Days in the Life of a Mayor 6. Conclusion