Urban Law and Policy

This course will examine the legal, economic, and political forces that have shaped American metropolitan areas with particular attention to the policies that have shaped American cities and suburbs. The course will consider issues such as residential racial segregation, housing policy, school funding, local policing, concentrated poverty, community economic development, federalism, and municipal bankruptcy. The course will combine elements of state and local government law, land use law, and state and federal constitutional law. In addition to the legal literature in the field, participants will read widely in the urban theory and policy literature.