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The author begins The Servant Class City with an introduction to one of their friends, the entrepreneur Raymond, and the odd jobs he does to earn a living. To some observers, Raymond’s situation and outlook is frustrating; he is obviously a hard worker, so why doesn’t he just learn a trade or start his own business? The barriers to either, however, are multiple. It is not from the lack of trying; but rather, the structures of opportunity have shifted, making it difficult to attain any level of economic security or move up economically through greater income. The book specifically examines the unique economic structures of the city of San Diego, California.

The first chapter looks at the background of San Diego’s inner city revitalization, the targeting and subsidization of specific industries, and the politics involved in the process. Since the 1970s, growing inequality, declining economic mobility, and an erosion of standardized work and wages for most Americans has reshaped the postwar U.S. economy. The dominant shift throughout the 1980s and 1990s saw more neoliberal economic policies adopted at the federal level and below. These coincided or overlapped with urban devolution, reduced federal funding for urban renewal programs, a shift toward more conservative-favored efforts like enterprise zones, and the elimination of welfare as a system of income supports. All of these changes resulted in growing income inequality and greater economic and labor market polarization overall, and they left many inner-city residents isolated and with high rates of joblessness.

This chapter introduces the reader to ‘diasporic placemaking’ as an alternative conceptual frame for understanding the cultural and socio-spatial politics of planning and development in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It also describes current demographic and housing trends to demonstrate how the racialized stratification influences the city’s housing, economic, and placemaking infrastructures. An overview of the book chapters are also provided.

The concluding chapter of The Servant Class City provides a review of the key issues and makes policy suggestions. The lack of economic mobility in the United States is a growing problem across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic demographics. The central research question regarding economic mobility is why so many people in low-income families have a difficult time moving out of the bottom rungs. The chapter also criticizes the current status of urban policy.

Chapter 5 assesses the historic rise, ‘decline’, and ongoing revival of the East Ninth Street/Martin Luther King Blvd. corridor and neighbourhood. The work contends that public and institutional actors involved with the ongoing revitalization of the Martin Luther King Blvd. corridor and neighborhood stand to miss crucial opportunities for realizing the equitable redevelopment of the district. The potential damage wrought by this absence is particularly acute because of the neighborhood’s long history of creative, cooperative Black placemaking and community development.

This chapter explores the politics of public participation in the context of Chattanooga’s 35-year, citizen-driven return to the Tennessee riverfront. Though the city has won numerous awards for its citizen-driven planning initiatives, the success of early revitalization programs such as Chattanooga Venture and the Vision 2000 process remains contested.

The sixth chapter examines the ways that people provide for themselves within low-income communities in the absence of market-based or public sector solutions for everything from childcare to banking. Recalling previous chapters, the hospitality and retail industries are, on average, inadequate in terms of job quality. A lack of skills upgrading or experience, stagnant or falling wages, and limited career ladders make these industries less than appealing to many inner-city residents. As some move to the further margins of the economy, working informally to supplement their low wages or to drop out of the labor force entirely, they run into additional problems, like a lack of benefits and labor market attachment. This often makes it harder to return to a formal employment.

The fourth chapter looks more closely at employment in the retail sector, noting the poor job quality and challenges to workers in the industry. It first looks at the general trends in the industry that ultimately have an influence on employment practices and job quality. In the second section it discusses the promotion of retail in the inner city by developers and planning bodies, and in the final section it looks closely at job quality, career ladders, and case studies of issues related to working in retail.