Kansas City is at the vanguard of what Bruce Katz sees as a positive trend in societal problem solving: a shift from increasingly dysfunctional models of national governance to more flexible, multi-stakeholder forms of local authority.

His book with the late Jeremy Nowak, The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism, examines how communities—including KC—are taking the lead in addressing issues ranging from economic competitiveness to social inclusion and environmental sustainability.

Katz, director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University, co-founder (with Nowak) of New Localism Advisors, and former vice president of the Brookings Institution, discusses the trend both locally and nationally.