The Opening of the Cybernetic Frontier: Cities of the Prairie

ISBN-13: 9780765802019 / Angielski / Twarda / 2004 / 390 str.

Daniel J. Elazar; Joseph R. Marbach; Rozanne Rothman

Opis

The Opening of the Cybernetic Frontier is the third in-J. stallment in the Cities of the Prairie project. It completes an ongoing multi-generational, comparative study of ten medium-sized communities located in five Prairie and Plains states--Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Colorado. This long-term study was initiated by Daniel J. Elazar in 1959 to develop a comprehensive theory explaining and forecasting the development of the civil community based upon the changing relationship between internal developments and external factors. In this new volume, Elazar and his colleagues trace developments in these communities during the 1980s and 1990s. The study examines how local communities function politically, socially, and economically, and then analyzes the impact that regional, national, and international trends and patterns have on local political systems in general and the cities of the prairie in particular. It revisits these communities at the dawning of a new frontier, the city-cybernetic frontier, which is characterized by a knowledge-intensive economic base made possible by computer and communication technologies. Changing technology has accelerated the settlement patterns that emerged after World War II. Ongoing population sprawl means that individuals are leaving the suburbs to live in the exurbs and beyond, creating a citybelt phenomenon that relies upon new technologies.

Spis treści

Introduction: Themes and Theses Part 1 Reconstitution, Building Civic Capital, Economic Renewal 1 The Civil Community and Its Governance 2 The Internal Dynamics of the Cities of the Prairie 3 The Cities and Their Environment 4 Civil Community, Government, and the New Frontier 5 The Cities of the Prairie in Cyberspace 6 New Departures Part 2 Northeastern Illinois and Chicagoland 7 The Rockford Civil Community: New Kid in the Northeastern Bloc 8 The Joliet Civil Community: A Buckle on the Rustbelt Part 3 Central Illinois: The Grand Prairie 9 The Peoria Civil Community: Recession and Recovery in the Illinois Valley 10 Champaign-Urbana: Prosperity on the Prairie 11 Decatur: Agribusiness in a Cybernetic Age 12 Springfield: Capital Prospering Part 4 Western Illinois: North and South 13 The Southwestern Illinois Metropolitan Region 14 The Quad Cities: The “State of Scott” and Illinois’ Northwest Part 5 Across the Mississippi 15 The Duluth Civil Community: The End of a Long Depression? 16 Pueblo, Colorado: Modernization and the Mobilization of Public Capital: 1967-1997 Part 6 A Summation 17 Building Civil Community on the Cybernetic Frontier. Conclusion: Citizenship and Public in Metropolitan America

O autorze

Daniel Elazar