The Unheavenly City Revisited

Poverty. Illiteracy. Crime. Unemployment. Riots. Big cities so often appear to have terrible problems, and Americans have a long history of convincing themselves that urban areas are in crises and that the federal government must do something to improve matters. Edward C. Banfield argues the conventional wisdom is incorrect. In The Unheavenly City Revisited, he presents rigorous analyses showing that "by any conceivable measure of material welfare the present generation of urban Americans is, on the whole, better off than any other large group of people has ever been anywhere." He furthermore argues that there is little evidence that the billions of dollars of government spending is improving matters. Indeed, well-intended government actions have proved harmful in some instances. The Unheavenly City Revisited cautions policymakers that their biases may affect their perceptions of America's metropolitan areas. Improving the lives of people in cities through government action is an exceedingly complex enterprise. Government officials and citizens alike must be realists about what government action can achieve.

About the Author :
Edward C. Banfield (1916-99) was a professor at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and the University of Pennsylvania. He authored more than a dozen books on urban politics, political cooperation, and American governance. Kevin R. Kosar is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies the US Congress, the administrative state, American politics, election reform, and the US Postal Service.

Review :
Praise for the New Edition "Problems in the nation's big cities today are even greater now than they were a half-century ago, when Edward C. Banfield's The Unheavenly City Revisited first appeared. Rather than ignoring or criticizing his advice as they did then, today's urban leaders would do better to take it to heart and act on its difficult, but clear-eyed recommendations." - Leslie Lenkowsky, Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs and Philanthropic Studies, Indiana University "The Unheavenly City Revisited is an American classic of enduring importance and stunning prescience." - Christopher DeMuth, Distinguished Fellow in American Thought, Heritage Foundation Praise for the First Edition "This is a devastating anti-utopian critique of social engineering." - Jeffrey Hart, Professor Emeritus of English, Dartmouth College "Urban reforms foster expectations that consistently outpace social gains. Things may be improving, but the standards for evaluating contemporary conditions are always rising faster. Frustration and impatience are thus perennial. In this respect, cities will always suffer from 'problems' and 'crises' that can never be fully 'solved.' Banfield shows us how to face them with equanimity." - Daniel DiSalvo, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute "Many, if not most, of the people discussing urban problems today have not yet caught up to what Banfield said half a century ago." - Thomas Sowell, Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy, Hoover Institution "A long and distinguished career of studying and writing in the urban field has convinced [Banfield] of two principles. First, things are better than ever for American cities and American city dwellers. . . . Second, government intervention in the urban drama is almost always futile and sometimes even harmful." - Elizabeth Nelson, US Department of Housing and Urban Development