19651 BOOKS IN REVIEW 283

Books in Review . Jewel Bellush, Editor

The City in Paper SLUMS AND SOCIAL SECURITY. By Alvin

Schorr. United States Government Print- ing Office, Washington, D. C. 20402, 1963. viii, 168 pp. 50 cents.

THE CHALLENGE OF MEGALOPOLIS. By Wolf Von Eckardt. The Macmillan Com- pany, 60 Fifth Avenue, New York 10011, 1964. 126 pp. $1.95.

THE IMAGE OF THE CITY. By Kevin Lynch. The M. I. T. Press, Cambridge, 1964. 194 pp. $5.50,

DECISIONS IN SYRACUSE. By Roscoe Martin and Frank Munger. Anchor Books, Doubleday and Company, 724 Fifth Avenue, New York, 1964. 388 pp. $1.45.

POLITICS, PLANNING AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST. By Martin Meyerson and Ed- ward C. Banfield. Free Press of Glencoe, a division of The Macmillan Company, 60 Fifth Avenue, New York 10011, 1964.

THE INTELLECTUAL VERSUS THE CITY. By Morton and Lucia White. Mentor Books, 501 Madison Avenue, New York, 1964. 271 pp. 75 cents.

The paperback revolution continues to help make the life of the instructor an increasingly pleasant one and that of the student decreasingly onerous because good research and stimulating writing are made available at low cost. Of particular im- portance is the publication of material dealing with urban politics and the prob- lems of city living. For only 50 cents one can own Alvin Schorr’s articulate analysis of the impact of federal policies on cor- recting efficiencies in housing. Any one involved or interested in the anti-poverty programs should read this comprehensive and careful monograph which covers the effects of housing conditions on the indi-

353 pp. $2.45.

vidual and the family-overcrowdedness, physical design, neighborhood segregation and enforcement of more rigid standards.

A simpler and more visual presentation of the woes besetting urban living is Eckardt’s summary of Gottman’s bulging Megalopolis which can also be found in paperback (see the REVIEW, June 1962, page 343). The maps and charts are very effective and could aid many a planner and city official in explaining the problems besetting metropolitan areas.

Kevin Lynch’s stimulating book, The Image of the City, has also gone into paperback, thus spreading the idea that the city has form and shape which we, her inhabitants, help fashion. Additionally, the author urges us to join in preserving its “legibility.” More of us should be con- cerned with what we see, be more sensi- tive as to what we like and more deter- mined in preserving what is good. The recent success in saving some important landmarks in New York indicate that Lynch’s call has not been in vain.

We live in a metropolitan world but our governmental institutions were created during an agrarian age. How does the community reconcile the disparity between ancient political forms and the new level of socio-economic settlement? In Deci- sions in Syracuse are found a series of case studies of decision-making in the Syracuse metropolitan setting. Particular attention is focused on performers, their strategy and tactics and the outcomes. After examining approximately two dozen ex- amples dealing with a sewerage plant, the suburban water supply, health, wel- fare, education and economic develop- ment, the authors conclude that the poly- lithic pattern of power rather than the monolithic and simplistic concept operates in metropolitan Syracuse.

A classic in the field of politics and planning is the Meyerson and Banfield

2 84 NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW [May study of the pressures influencing the location of public housing projects in Chicago. In finding sites for low-income groups, who best articulates the public interest? The mayor? The aldermen? The Chicago Housing Authority? The pro- fessionals? The Democratic party organi- zation? The voters? White or Negro? Well it depends. , . . In a provocative analysis of the varied theoretical concepts of what constitutes the public interest, the authors provide much food for thought.

Mentor has made available The Intel- lectual V w s w the City in which the authors contend that the American herit- age has been one of love for Walden Pond, devotion to country solitude and adulation for agrarian toil. Poets, novel- ists, writers, intellectuals all constitute a conspiracy against the urban environ- ment. The authors do a fine job in analyz- ing the various reasons intellectuals from Jefferson to Frank Lloyd Wright have rejected the city.

J.B.

Budgets OPERATING BULGET MANUAL and

CAPITAL PROGRAMMING AND CAPITAL BUDGETING. By Lennox L. Moak and Kathryn W. Killian. Municipal Finance Officers Association, 1313 East 60th Street, Chicago 60637, 1964. xix, 347 pp., and xv, 151 pp. respectively. Exhibits, tables.

These excellent volumes were written as companion manuals and are part of a series developed by MFOA for its mem- bers and others concerned with local government finance.

After a capsule introduction to current local government budgeting, the Operat- ing Budget Manual describes budget practices in seventeen United States and Canadian cities. Helpful exhibits are particularly valuable to the practitioner. Comments on current practices are given as well as discussion on desirable ones.

The writing is terse, a t times resem-

bling an expanded outline. Thus, the maximum amount of information is pre- sented in a minimum number of pages. In the best sense of the term, it is indeed a source book on operating budgets, with adequate supporting discussion to make the material readily meaningful.

The short section on “Post Audit of Performance” notes that, “Its objective is to discuss the extent to which per- formance has matched the promise made at the time funds were being sought.” To be emphasized is the authors’ con- clusion : “Perhaps the time is overdue when we should begin to get this step underway in some of our progressive cities.”

The second manual has the same format, including a section on legislative consideration. Its introduction presents definitions of capital programming and the capital budget, giving careful focus for succeeding discussion.

The development of capital program- ming is summarized effectively in only three pages. The chapter, “Basis for Budgeting,” builds upon material in the Operating Budget Manual and in this way avoids unnecessary duplication.

Throughout the book, capital budgeting and programming procedures of seven- teen cities are given which provide an adequate basis for the understanding of these processes. These illustrations also lay the foundation for appreciation of the authors’ suggestions for desirable practices.

T.R.W.

Reapportionment REAPPORTIONMENT. Edited by Glendon

Schubert. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 597 Fifth Avenue, New York. ix, 257 pp. $2.95.

Attention all State Item Chairmen (Reapportionment) of the Leagues of Women Voters : I t may be in print a little late to have saved you many arduous hours in the local library but here is a