Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico's Global Factories

the economic well-being of local communities and their residents. Lastly, there is as chapter on the role of state and federal programs for environmental protection on land use and urban development. Part III, ‘‘Which Way L.A.?,’’ includes four chapters on local policies that are being implemented in response to issues related to regionwide sprawl, local population growth and development, economic equity issues, and environmental protection. There is a chapter on the changing use and role of local growth controls that occurred in response to current fiscal and economic conditions in Southern California and one on the adoption of smart-growth principles in local planning. Another chapter describes the regional growth policies that were adopted in Ventura County and their likely outcomes; this new policy direction represents one of the boldest attempts by voters to preserve open space and agriculture while directing housing and urban growth to specific areas. The final chapter circles back to the possibilities of changing the current patterns of sprawl and its related social, economic, and environmental problems through a new approach to public policy in Southern California. Specifically, the authors present examples of smart growth, sustainable development, and regional cooperation. They provide seven interesting case studies of local innovations along these three policy dimensionsFGateway Cities Partnership, Natural Community Conservation Planning, Riverside County Integrated Project, Bus Riders Union, Cool Schools, Village Green, and Santa Monica Sustainable City ProgramFand tell us about the lessons learned regarding political impediments and opportunities for changing the patterns of sprawl. This book is a must-read for those scholars who study the trends and implications of urban, suburban, and metropolitan development. Most of the research appears in print for the first time, though all of the authors are building on a solid track record of past studies. The book also has something extra to offer to several of the scholarly disciplinesFmaps for geographers and urban planners, population data for demographers, and multivariate statistical tables for regional scientists, urban economists, and sociologists. While providing a detailed portrait of Southern California, the significance of the information in the volume as a whole and in each of the chapters individually goes well beyond the history, current status, and possible futures of this important region. Indeed, the powerful message from each of the authors that public policy matters in shaping the patterns of sprawl and its consequencesFas well as for seeking ways to reinvent the metropolitan regionFis a welcome addition to long-standing intellectual debates on the evolution of urban form.