Decision rules and service delivery in small cities

The research presented here describes the spatial distribution of parks and recreation services in four suburbs of the City of Detroit, Michigan. This comparative perspective suggests that the “decision–rule hypothesis” explains service distribution in some suburbs, as has been the case in central cities. In suburbs which are less highly bureaucratized, standardized decision procedures are not used to allocate service, however. Additionally, patterns of service benefits seem to vary among suburbs depending upon the extent of the reliance on such bureaucratic procedures.