Joel Rast – författare

Chicago is celebrated for its rich diversity, but, even more than most US cities, it is also plagued by segregation and extreme inequality. The stark divide between the gentrifying and primarily white neighborhoods on the north side and near downtown, and impoverished, largely black and Latino communities on the south and west sides is plainly visible. More than ever, Chicago is a "dual city," a condition taken for granted by many residents.Joel Rast reveals today's tacit acceptance of rising urban inequality as a marked departure from the past. For much of the twentieth century, a key goal for civic leaders was the total elimination of slums and blight. Yet over time, as anti-slum efforts faltered, leaders changed the focus of their initiatives away from low-income areas and toward the upgrading of neighborhoods with greater promise. As misguided as postwar public housing and urban renewal programs were, they were projects born of a long-standing reformist impulse aimed at improving living conditions for people of all classes and colors across the city--something that can't be said to be a true political or social priority for many policymakers today. Rast laments the acceptance of today's dual city and is intent on showing precisely how that paradigm took over from ones that shaped previous generations' policymaking. The Origins of the Dual City reveals nothing less than how we normalized and became resigned to a city with stark racial and economic divides.

Chicago is celebrated for its rich diversity, but, even more than most US cities, it is also plagued by segregation and extreme inequality. The stark divide between the gentrifying and primarily white neighborhoods on the north side and near downtown, and impoverished, largely black and Latino communities on the south and west sides is plainly visible. More than ever, Chicago is a "dual city," a condition taken for granted by many residents.Joel Rast reveals today's tacit acceptance of rising urban inequality as a marked departure from the past. For much of the twentieth century, a key goal for civic leaders was the total elimination of slums and blight. Yet over time, as anti-slum efforts faltered, leaders changed the focus of their initiatives away from low-income areas and toward the upgrading of neighborhoods with greater promise. As misguided as postwar public housing and urban renewal programs were, they were projects born of a long-standing reformist impulse aimed at improving living conditions for people of all classes and colors across the city--something that can't be said to be a true political or social priority for many policymakers today. Rast laments the acceptance of today's dual city and is intent on showing precisely how that paradigm took over from ones that shaped previous generations' policymaking. The Origins of the Dual City reveals nothing less than how we normalized and became resigned to a city with stark racial and economic divides.

Examining Chicago as a model for urban economic development in the post–World War II era, Joel Rast challenges the conventional belief that structural economic change has forced cities to concentrate resources on downtown revitalization efforts in order to remain fiscally viable. Rast argues instead that cities face multiple economic development choices and that politics play a fundamental role in deciding among them. During the late 1950s, a coalition of city officials and downtown business leaders initiated planning efforts that would help reshape central Chicago into a modern mecca of service industries and affluent residential neighborhoods, chasing viable manufacturers from the near downtown area in the process. More recently, however, manufacturers have sought protection and support from city government, forming alliances with labor and community organizations concerned with the decline of well-paying industrial job opportunities. Responding to these pressures, city officials from the Harold Washington, Eugene Sawyer, and Richard M. Daley administrations have taken steps to implement a citywide industrial policy. Remaking Chicago portrays urban economic development as open-ended and politically contested. It demonstrates that who governs matters and shows how opportunities exist for creative local responses to urban economic restructuring. Based on extensive research, this well-written case study will appeal to those interested in urban planning and politics, economic development, and Chicago history and politics.