Abstract: This law school casebook focuses on the advantages and difficulties involved in decentralizing power to cities (the city-state and city-federal relationships), the city-suburb divide (including the topics of sprawl and regionalism), and the structure of city government itself (issues like raising revenue, service delivery, economic development, and voting). The casebook combines case law with extensive excerpts from the urban studies literature, including history, political science, sociology, and planning. The new edition will update existing topics and will add material on important new issues, most notably state receivership and municipal bankruptcy. It will also include readings on international local government law.