Edited by Daniel Tucker
Chicago: AREA, 2007
Pages: 40
Dimensions: 11.5" x 17"
Cover: soft (newspaper stock)
Binding: double-fold
Process: digital
Color: black and white cover and throughout
Edition Size: 5000
ISBN: none

From the editorial statement:

Cities are the products of history.

In this issue of AREA Chicago we have attempted to look at Chicago as a policy laboratory in which experimental public policy in the areas of housing, labor and education are tested on the residents of Chicago. These localized experiments, if they are proven to be effective - are then exported or expanded into different scales - maybe the state, the country or the world. During the January 30th GOP debate, then presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee saidthat “states should act like policy labs” and then if the policy works then it spreads to the rest of the country. This is the dynamic promoted by our version of federalism in the USA - where everywhere becomes a place to develop the models or proposals for somewhere else.

The contributions to this issue are rich in their diversity. They provide us tools and analysis to challenges facing many of us here in Chicago. They give us insight into the fragility of our institutions and the powerful interests that attempt to shape them. However, the articles are limited in that they offer few proposals for how to integrate these challenges into a strategic plan. We have become skilled at piecemeal interpretations and analysis of the symptoms of the problems that face us. Yet we have few strong ideas for a way out. It is our hope that if the engaged and concerned residents of this city can deepen our understanding of the structural challenges we face, of our specific history and context - that we might be able to work together in a more intelligent and effective manner on our projects of economic justice, redistribution of wealth and public institutions that we control.

Contributors Include:
Nik Theodore, Jamie Peck, Neil Brenner, Pauline Lipman, Kenneth J. Saltman, Bill Wilen, Micah Maidenberg, Beth Gutelius and Lisa Sousa, Brian Holmes, Aaron Sarver, Nick Kreitman, Ryan Hollon, Nic Halverson, Therese Quinn, Eric Triantifillou, Kenzo Shibatta, Erica Meiners, Jason Reblando, Jesse Mumm, and Daniel Tucker

A City Wide Interview:
Sonjanita Moore, Euan Hague, Peter Zelchenko, Erika Mikkalo, Jim Nelson, Margo Coulter, Helena Marie Carnes-Jeffries, Diana Cruz, Marisel Melendez, and Amelia Ramos

Special Insert:
Notes for a People's History of Chicago