Economic Restructuring and the American City

Transformations in the composition and locational patterns of the economy have assumed specific forms in cities and in the urban hierarchy. The new service-dominated urbanization, particularly evident in major cities, has distinct consequences for a range of social conditions. Here we focus especially on the characteristics of today's leading industries, the producer services, disproportionately concentrated in major cities; the impact of restructuring on the earnings distribution generally and in major cities in particular; and the impact of urban restructuring on minorities, a population increasingly concentrated in large cities.