Abstract

In an increasingly geographically and economically interdependent urban system, the coherence and dominance of traditional political and economic urban elites in Nashville is challenged. The influx of new capital, new industries, and nationwide neoliberal policies offers changing imperatives of how local capital should be organized to maximize its efficiency. This study indicates that Nashville has shifted from a political system characterized by the dominance of a closed, exclusive power group to broader, inclusive (although still elite dominated) institutions that stress greater concern for strategic planning and long-term growth. In an era of governance rescaling, cities have to adapt their governance institutions to fit the neoliberal paradigm.

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