Explanations for growth beyond central city borders are examined. Presented is a general overview of the confrontation between conventional and critical urban theory. (Author/RM)

Current population trends represent a dramatic shift in wealth and educated people to the Sunbelt, creating a secondary effect in terms of growth, jobs, tax bases, and school enrollments. These trends will continue in the 1980s, intensifying the decline in economic conditions, the quality of social and educational services, and the quality of life…

Economic and demographic changes in the central city have created two conflicting urban groups: (1) the poor, who seek inexpensive housing and greater welfare expenditures; and (2) the elite, who seek neighborhood improvement, fewer housing units, and more environment-enhancing investments. Reconstruction of urban America requires a reconciliation…

The post-World War II American pattern of general urban growth, rapid suburbanization, and central city decline has now given way to reduced urban growth outside the Sunbelt, increased growth in nonmetropolitan areas, greater self-sufficiency for suburbs, and continuing depression in the central cities. Implications of these changes are discussed.…