This book explores the way in which city authorities respond to new challenges of urban governance. Globalization and devolution are two inter-linked forces driving urban change. This book, based on an in-depth study of six major metropolitan areas, examines these changes and explores the strategies cities have devised to reposition themselves in the new world economy. It examines the re-engineering of institutional structures, and the emergence of new forms of governance designed to foster local responsiveness and popular participation, and to create a more vigorous civil society. This book is a major addition to the comparative literature on urban governance and will be of interests to students of urban studies, governance, globalization and politics.