RC21 CONFERENCE 2013
Resourceful cities
Berlin (Germany), 29-31 August 2013
Humboldt-University Berlin, Institute for Social Science, Dept. for Urban and Regional Sociology
The Return of Urban Fiscal Crisis
Urban scholars interpreted the wave of urban fiscal crises in the 1970s as the result of the contradiction between the accumulation and legitimation roles of the State. Aggravated by the global Oil Shocks, the urban fiscal stress was a prelude to national cutbacks in the welfare state. Today's global economic crisis and Euro-zone monetary constraints have also pressured states to introduce austerity programs that are slowly trickling down to lower levels of government. These local governments have limited sources of dedicated revenue which are also drying up with the economic downturn. Therefore, municipalities are curtailing services and transfers to low-income citizens dependent on state aid. Additional cutbacks are hurting the middle-class, as public employees are losing their jobs or are under pressure to reduce wages or social benefits. In the neoliberal climate, raising taxes or contributions are often presented as counterproductive disincentives to growth and hiring. In the United States, as states balance budgets downward, there has been a wave of municipal bankruptcies. Cities are defaulting on debts or pension obligations. In many European countries, the requirement to reduce the deficit is being off-loaded to regions and municipalities. Even in growing regions of the world, the global slowdown, international debt obligations, and domestic political realities make it difficult to make long term investments in cities. How is urban political economy to analyze the return of urban fiscal crisis? This session considers contemporary urban fiscal crises both comparatively and historically and seeks for papers addressing some of the following questions:
- To what extent is the urban fiscal crisis due to the economic slowdown, housing bubble, and subsequent declining revenues? What are the contributions of the financial sector and tightening credit markets? Is capital simply taking advantage of the slowdown to force reductions in social programs and prevent stimulus spending?
- How much is the urban fiscal crisis a consequence of State policies, as higher levels of government pass through their austerity plans and cutbacks?
- What are the limits on municipal level borrowing and debt? Legally speaking, can municipalities in all countries default?
- What kinds of cities are most vulnerable to fiscal shortfalls and why?
- Who bears the brunt of urban fiscal crisis? What are the consequences of this wave of urban deficits for public employees, local businesses, real estate markets, ordinary citizens, and the most vulnerable? Are there contradictory outcomes of cutbacks?
- Are cities innovating to find new sources of revenues and efficiencies? Are new privatizations occurring and do they save money?
- How does the current wave of urban fiscal crisis differ from earlier ones? What has changed over time? Which theories best account for urban fiscal crises generally?
Comparative papers taking account of common global and national forces are especially welcome.
Session Organizer
Prof. Hilary Silver, Dept of Sociology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912 USA, E: Hilary_Silver@brown.edu
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