Paradigm shifts in economic governance have occurred at intervals of a century or more; we may be at a point of transition comparable to that of the early 20^th century, a point of conjuncture between short and long term trends. History becomes all the more relevant therefore because there is no living experience of what such a paradigm shift entails. It is part of a process by which crises are resolved when the previous paradigm no longer provides effective or credible solutions. The challenge today, to make cities safer in the 21^st century, calls attention to problems which the macro-economic and sectoral policy frameworks of the 20^th century are ill-equipped to address. Each paradigm shift in the past was associated with a major increase in the scale of urbanization. This analysis introduces the distinction between meta-regulation, which operates at the level of a paradigm, and regulation in the form of specific roles. Meta-regulation helps to keep the entire system going in reference to basic values, defined in terms of society’s deepest hopes and fears.