Cities are the engines of metropolitan growth in the U.S. economy today. But key economic, demographics and environmental challenges threaten this role. Home to enormous economic disparities, struggling schools, rapidly changing populations, and an infrastructure under increasing environmental pressure, our cities are also places of great social and economic opportunity, deep and diverse cultural resources, and impressive innovation. What are the issues facing cities, the effect of policy decisions in the past, and the potential for significant shift in metropolitan spatial structure in the next half century?

The purpose of the conference is to present new research on trends in the urban economic, demographic, residential, social and political environment to serve as the basis for a special volume of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science on how these forces are transforming the American city. For decades, The Annals has been on the leading edge of urban scholarship with path breaking volumes such as Building the Future City (1945), Metropolis in Ferment (1957), Urban Revival: Goals and Standards (1973), Revitalizing the Industrial City (1986) and Globalization and the Changing U.S. City (1997.) With this conference, The Annals continues to be on the leading edge of urban scholarship.

The conference's first day will be devoted to the latest social science research on the nation's cities and suburbs. Discussion on the changing economies of cities leads into an examination of changing demographics, including the role of immigrants in the American city. A growing population shifts the footprint and physical arrangement of cities and an increasingly competitive world demands new services to support expanding and diversifying economies. The conference concludes with a discussion among national and student journalists on the media's role in urban policy and on possibilities for shaping the future of our cities.

Conference Program (PDF)