NEGLECTED ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF URBAN SERVICE DISTRIBUTIONS - RESEARCH AGENDA

Research into the distribution of public services in urban America has made impressive empirical, theoretical and methodological progress. To date, however, this work has exhibited several limitations which restrict its contribution to our understanding of the political significance of municipal services. This paper reviews existing research, examines its limitations and suggests ways in which future research could overcome these failings by focusing on outcome rather than output measures of services, interjurisdictional differences, the influence of neighborhood organisations on service patterns, the role of private service options, and equity rather than equality as a standard against which to judge observed distributions. © 1979, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.