Robert L. Bish

Scale and Monopoly Problems in Urban Government Services

Few issues have been the subject of more sustained concern and intense civic activity in the United States than the proper organization of local government in metropolitan areas. One view, until recently, has dominated the discussions about what should be done. For over a century, civic leaders and many academics have been in the forefront of those urging that the problems of an urban area can best be solved by combining central cities and the surrounding urbanized territory into some form of regional government. This recommendation has been based on the assumption that fragmented governmental structure not only prevents solutions but in itself causes local government problems (for a historical summary, see Govern-