This volume addresses a set of questions concerning the interaction of economy, culture, politics, policy and space within the United States and the United Kingdom. It contains unabridged selections from recent works by a group of authors who have transformed the field of urban theory. Although there are important differences among the writers represented, they largely share a common paradigm of political-economic analysis. The readings deal with the changing urban and regional system, its social impacts, the effect of publicly sponsored redevelopment programmes and the cultural meanings of spatial relations. The book should be of interest to planners, policy-makers, students and instructors of planning, geographers and anyone who wishes to understand the urban and regional context in which they live and work if they are to be effective. It is a companion volume to Readings in Planning Theory.