The distribution of an urban public service: the changing role of race and politics

The research on the distribution of urban public services has made a valuable contribution in enhancing our understanding of urban politics. However, this literature is criticized because the authors employed cross-sectional rather than longitudinal designs, relied upon single rather than multiple indicators of the distributional pattern, and emphasized bureaucratic rather than political explanations of distributional outcomes. In this article, the distribution of park and recreation services in Chicago is analyzed for a 22-year period, revealing that a redistribution of resources between white and black wards occurred during this time. One conclusion is that class has replaced race as the primary determinant of the service distribution pattern.