| Abstract: | For many observers, a large number of governments in a metropolitanarea is thought to equate to "fragmentation," and fragmentation,to ineffective organization and poor performance. Other observersfind a large number of local governments to mean competitionand consequent pressures for efficiency. The number of localgovernments, however, is only one dimension of the structureof a metropolitan area. We identify and measure key structuralcharacteristics of "fragmented " metropolitan areas, employinga comparative study of two metropolitan city-counties: St. LouisCityand County, Missouri, and Allegheny County (Pittsburgh),Pennsylvania. We argue that these areas, with their many unitsof local government, "work" by means of integrating structuresbuilt by local governments together with county and state governments.Counties, in particular, are a useful focus for study of metropolitanrelationships because they often provide the institutional framewithin which integrating structures are built. |
