Obama’s urban policy

When Barack Obama was elected US President, he was unusual in doing so with an urban image, an urban mandate and an explicit urban policy. This paper reviews his approaches to urban policy during the election and the first 100 days of his presidency, and asks what lessons the approach offers for UK urban policy. While a few of his early policy announcements, such as the establishment of the Office of Urban Affairs, have marked significant attempts to give greater voice to the cities, these policies have been secondary to his economic agenda. The economic stimulus will have mixed results for cities. While some targeted transport improvements are likely to benefit urban areas, the funding is largely administered by state government and so may not be targeted at urban problems. This emerging urban policy has two principal implications for UK policy makers: the need to consider the urban impact of national government policy and the suggestion that decentralisation is not enough to ensure successful governance of urban areas.