This essay explores the fluctuations in and short-lived nature of urban school reform through a study of the Education Action Zone (EAZ) programme of Britain's New Labour government. Using the notion of civic capacity as a theoretical framework, the essay looks at this reform from the perspectives of its government proponents, critics outside of government and those who work within one such zone in an economically distressed borough of London given the pseudonym of North Upton. The essay concludes by looking at what our case study of North Upton tells us about the causes of this problem and how it may be remedied. (Contains 3 notes.)