With an ever increasing proportion of the world's population inhabiting urban environments, the management of cities remains a perennial challenge for governments and policymakers. This concise, but wide-ranging text makes sense of the multiple ways in which urban issues and problems have been defined and addressed in different places at different times. From initiatives that focus on social tensions within the urban realm, to those which seek to develop cities as economic entities, the book provides an accessible discussion and critique of some of the key approaches that have characterised urban policy across the globe. Providing case studies of urban policy actions, explanations of key concepts, and succinct chapter summaries, this unique introductory text is invaluable reading for both students and practitioners who are new to the area of urban policy, and who wish to understand and assess policy responses to the challenges posed by urban living and lifestyles.

The Mystery of Miz Arnette is set in Oklahoma's devastating Dust Bowl. The time is 1934 when Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd along with their gangs roamed the territory. Out of the desolate nowhere arrives Miz Arnette to rent the room that had been advertised and leased four months ago. With the family farm at stake and desperate for the additional income, young Floy Kate strikes a deal and takes in the intriguing stranger that would forever change her life.

5f / Comedy / Exterior Four garden-club ladies meet a young girl who has come to their little Texas town to marry an infantryman before he ships off for World War II. The women impulsively decide to throw the girl an elaborate wedding, and their lives and friendships are thrown into turmoil as they race to accomplish the nuptials in one frenzied afternoon. "Delightful! ... Funny and folksy ... The ladies light up the stage!" - Dallas Morning News

This edited collection is the first to apply the theoretical lens of post-Foucauldian governmentality to an analysis of health problems, practices, and policy in Ireland. Drawing on empirical examples related to childhood, obesity, mental health, smoking, ageing and others, the collection explores how specific health issues have been constructed as problematic and in need of intervention in the Irish State, and considers the strategies, discourses and technologies involved in the art of governing health in advanced liberal democracies. Bringing together academics from social policy, sociology, political science and public health, the text seeks to develop a dialogue about both the nature of health and health policy in the Ireland, but also how governmentality, as a theoretical approach, can contribute to the development of critical health policy analysis. -- .