PADM 7224 1

MODULE

Seminar in Urban Problems

PADM 7224

University of Memphis Department of Public &

Nonprofit Administration

Edwards & Imrie (2015) Chapters 5 & 6

3

PADM 7224 2

CHAPTER 5: COMMUNITY PLANNING AND PARTNERSHIP

Edwards & Imrie (2015) The Short Guide to Urban Policy

PADM 7224 3

Community Planning and Partnership

 Renew/improve cities through community engagement

 How do to it?

Note: Reminder that several parts of this book discuss urban policy outside of the U.S. Most of the examples in this chapter focus on community-based urban policy in the United Kingdom (UK).

PADM 7224 4

Community Planning and Partnership Defining Community

 What is community?  Complex term with socially constructed boundaries  Often seen as positive concept – used by policy-

makers to spur change (e.g., “there is a breakdown in our community, so we need to act)

 4 common conceptualizations:  Community as a place/geography (e.g., Memphis)  Community as an interest group (e.g., Black

community)  Community organizations (e.g., nonprofits)  Community as process (e.g., community development)

PADM 7224 5

Community Planning and Partnership Community & the Urban Problem

 ~19th century urbanization was described as antithesis of “community”  Conceptualization of the urban “community” was

different than the rural “community”  Urban policy typically targets “communities” to

encourage citizens to participate in urban regeneration, or create “community”

 Shift in urban policy from social community regeneration (prior late 1970s) to economic community regeneration (post late 1970s)

PADM 7224 6

Community Planning and Partnership Reinvigorating Community in the 1990s

 Communitarianism – idea that collective bonds with those around us are important to prevent social exclusion, which leads to urban decline

 Build social capital – linkages that connect people – to build urban renewal

 Communities should be given the responsibility to drive change

PADM 7224 7

Community Planning and Partnership Putting Community Activation into Practice

 Community-based urban policy changes governance – private (for-profit and non- profit) organizations have more seats at the governing table

 Level of community-involvement can vary substantially from policy to policy – from “add-ons” to “key partners”

 All communities (neighborhoods) do not have the existing expertise, knowledge, or ability to engage in policy-making

PADM 7224 8

Community Planning and Partnership Critiquing Community Involvement in Regeneration

 Unanswered questions –  Is community involvement in policy-making

simply tokenism by government or is it of actual value?

 Is the policy implemented with the level of community involvement intended in the spirit of the policy?

PADM 7224 9

Community Planning and Partnership Critiquing Community Involvement in Regeneration

 Looking for answers –  Who represents the community?  “Community” as conceptualized by policy-makers and

implementers often differs from those living in the community

 Who sets the rules for participation?  Policy-makers (city or broader) often continue to

create the top-down rules for engagement  How is power distributed in community

partnerships?  “Expert” knowledge tends to be prioritized over

“localized” knowledge

PADM 7224 10

Privatization & Entrepreneurial Urban Policy Web Links

 British Library – Community Development and Regeneration  https://www.bl.uk/social-

welfare/collection- items?allportalsubjects=community%20de velopment%20and%20regeneration

PADM 7224 11

CHAPTER 6: CULTURE & THE CREATIVE CITY

Edwards & Imrie (2015) The Short Guide to Urban Policy

PADM 7224 12

Culture & the Creative City

 Key to modern urban policy is promoting the city’s culture and creativity to improve well-being (economic and social)  Festivals, sport facilities and events, “place-

marketing”  General idea – cultural strategies lead to

economic development  Critical question – who benefits from this

policy and what who does the policy attract to the city?

PADM 7224 13

Culture & the Creative City: Origins of Culture-Led Urban Policy & Regen

 Growing trend since late 20th century to market/promote culture to grow the city

 For many it was a part of a “reinventing” process after loss of manufacturing industry – adapting to a post-industrial world

 Challenged traditional urban planning with a shot of innovation

 New “cultural” industries (i.e., the arts) to attract – fashion, design, music, film, etc.

PADM 7224 14

Culture & the Creative City: Origins of Culture-Led Urban Policy & Regen  Florida’s “Creative Class” (2002)  General idea – to thrive cities need to

attract new class of educated professionals who work in post- industrial tech, knowledge, and cultural industries; to attract them cities need to cater to their “bohemian” lifestyle (three “T’s”)

 Highly influential, but controversial  Blamed for (or contributed to) large

influx of gentrification and increasing inequality in the 21st century city

 U.S counties by “creativity index”

PADM 7224 15

Culture & the Creative City: Deploying Culture: Strategies & Practices

 Not one specific “cultural promotion” policy, multiple initiatives and strategies

 Culture defined as art vs. culture defined as society – different policy approaches

 Typical goal is that these policies lead to economic consumption (e.g., coffee shops, shopping/retail, nightlife, etc.) and vibrant public spaces  Typically creates neighborhood pockets

(“cultural quarters” – see figure 6.7, p. 162)  Culture and fads change, is it sustainable?

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Culture & the Creative City: Deploying Culture: Strategies & Practices

 Flagship urban development  Revitalizing urban areas with large

construction and architecture projects (such as inner city, waterfront, etc.)

 “…even the most landlocked cities have done their best to find some sort of waterfront” (p. 163)

 Place-marketing (“re-branding”)  Promote distinctive cultural features that set

apart the city, attract investment  Brand decay? Does the image represent all

local identities?

PADM 7224 17

Culture & the Creative City: Deploying Culture: Strategies & Practices

 Cultural Events and Festivals  Large-scale, short-term events that attract

tourism and investment  Also used to increase concept of

“community”, improve social bonds, and reduce social exclusion

 Example – Memphis in May  Example – soccer stadium in Chester, PA  Competitive example – Olympic Games

bidding process

PADM 7224 18

Culture & the Creative City: Debating Culture-led Urban Policy

 What much weight should we put into cultural-led regeneration efforts?  Exists a knowledge gap in actual impact –

both economic and social  Further exploration needed in trickle-down

effects and sustainability of efforts  Multiple different types of strategies (i.e.,

policies) that fall within this “bucket” with multiple different outcomes

PADM 7224 19

Culture & the Creative City: Debating Culture-led Urban Policy

“The evidence shows that community- based participatory cultural projects are likely to be far more beneficial in sustaining urban regeneration, but in the eyes of city marketers and management, such projects are less glamorous and unlikely to project a city onto the world stage.” (p. 170)

PADM 7224 20

Culture & the Creative City: Debating Culture-led Urban Policy

 Whose culture is being promoted?  Tension between successful cultural

marketing (what attracts economic development) and real social inclusion (what brings all people together)

 Not always mutually exclusive, but can be  Political power struggles lie at the center of

this question

PADM 7224 21

Culture & the Creative City: Debating Culture-led Urban Policy

 Does cultural marketing eventually result in “sameness” promotion?  All cities are promoting the same type of

cultural regeneration which “homogenizes urban environments”

 Fast policy transfer – X policy worked in City A so why can’t it work in City B; flawed logic

 Florida’s creative class thesis neglects importance of city context in policymaking and implementation

PADM 7224 22

Culture & the Creative City: Web Links

 Charles Landry (prolific author on creative cities  https://charleslandry.com/about-charles-

landry/biography/

 Urban Studies Special Issue on Culture- led Regeneration  https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/usja/42/

5-6

PADM 7224 1

MODULE

Seminar in Urban Problems

PADM 7224

University of Memphis Department of Public &

Nonprofit Administration

Euchner & McGovern (2003) Chapter 3 – Economic Development and the

Construction of Opportunity

3

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Economic Development and the Construction of Opportunity

 Economic development:  “Stimulating business investment to expand

employment and tax revenues”  Promote economic activity that spurs the

involvement of multiple groups of city citizens into productive city life

 Most city leaders view economic growth as the key to urban revitalization

 Key question – growth is typically viewed as a good thing, but how to promote growth that is equitable for all city citizens?

PADM 7224 3

The Rise and Fall of the Urban Economy

 1900th century – golden age of cities due to industrialization and urbanization

 Early 20th century – too much success led to countertrend in growth and rise of complex urban problems

 Middle 20th century – widespread deindustrialization decimated many cities  Evidence – manufacturing declined between 51-

64% in major cities  Factory closings rippled throughout

neighborhoods  Suburbanization sky-rocketed

PADM 7224 4

The Rise and Fall of the Urban Economy

 Suburbanization  Many of those who could afford to move out of

the city did so  Racial discrimination drastically limited the

mobility of people of color (e.g., “redlining”)  Perfect storm – unemployment rises and tax

revenue falls  City leaders feared raising taxes would

cause further erosion of tax base; but cutting of services would reduce quality of life and also cause further erosion

PADM 7224 5

Urban Renewal

 1960s and 70s – city leaders focused on drawing business investment through improving downtown business districts; need not focus on neighborhoods decimated by deindustrialization  Believed this was the only way for renewal  Put faith in trickle down economics  Wanted to create a post-industrial economy

based in professional jobs with large corporate headquarters (information technology, services, communications)

PADM 7224 6

Urban Renewal

 Public-private partnerships (3Ps) drove downtown redevelopment with the support of the Housing Act of 1949 (aka “urban renewal”)  City government would use eminent domain to take

“blighted” from private residents to clear it for redevelopment by private investors

 “Blight” clearing often meant destroying stable Black neighborhoods, and displacing residents to scattered public housing projects

 Private investors often built profitable buildings, rather than affordable housing

 Civil Rights movement in late 1960s helped to slow eminent domain and urban renewal

 “Urban renewal” program was consolidated in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) in 1974

PADM 7224 7

Inducing Business Investment

 1970s onward – city leaders continued to follow “logic of growth politics”; “attract and retain capital investment by persuading businesses to locate downtown”

 How does city hall attract businesses?  Change city tax policy to create a favorable

business tax culture (low overall tax burden and tax incentives/breaks)

 Costs vs. benefits to the city of changing city tax policy to attract businesses continues to be debated

PADM 7224 8

Inducing Business Investment

 Downsides to downtown development:  Gentrification prices current residents out of

their neighborhoods  Exacerbates income inequality – usually includes

high-paying and low-paying jobs, but few middle-class jobs

 Downtown growth doesn’t trickle to the neighborhoods that need assistance

 Linkage policies have attempted to force downtown development to community revitalization, with mixed results

PADM 7224 9

Enticing Visitors to the City

 Economic development driven by city tourism gained traction in the 1990s  Widespread building of convention centers, arts and

entertainment buildings, music venues, museums, sports arenas, etc.

 Marketing existing arts and cultural opportunities more aggressively

 Waterfront development  Large bourgeois city shopping malls

 Goal: attract visitors with a single “attraction”, get them to go to other attractions/retail, and ultimately get them to come back with more visitors

PADM 7224 10

Enticing Visitors to the City

 Tourism-based urban policy is not the solution to community revitalization, but can serve as a “catalyst” to spur city growth and create city pride (think sports teams)

 Even better when such policy encourages mixing of different city populations in civic spaces

 Major criticisms:  Doesn’t do anything for actual city growth  Tourism buddle can burst – new attractions

become old, lose appeal  Turns cities into artificial Disney Worlds

PADM 7224 11

Neighborhood Revitalization

 Neighborhoods decimated by deindustrialization received little attention until 1950s/60s civil rights movement and 1960s race riots

 Federal response was a “War on Poverty” and LBJ’s “Great Society”

 1970s/80s – spending on Vietnam War, inflation, rising unemployment and perception that government was the problem not the solution quickly led to retreat of the Great Society ideals

PADM 7224 12

Neighborhood Revitalization

 Economic development hasn’t aligned well with community development – “Cities should return to the traditional strategy for fighting poverty of tending to people’s material needs by providing income support, food stamps, housing vouchers, and basic health care.” (p. 117, via Lemann’s 1994 NYT article “The Myth of Community Development”)

 People-based policies that enhance an individual’s opportunity for their own economic growth

PADM 7224 13

Neighborhood Revitalization

 Other people-based policies:  Residential dispersion (HUD’s MTO)  Improve transportation options (including public

transit) for inner-city residents  Address racial discrimination in hiring practices

 Place-based policies haven’t had their intended effect on revitalization:  1980s Enterprise Zones  1990s Empowerment Zones

 2000s and 2010s business improvement districts (BIDs) are place-based policies with substantial private involvement – mixed results

PADM 7224 14

Redirecting Economic Development Policy

 Economic development that focuses on “downtown” and ignores neighborhoods doesn’t work  “Widespread poverty in the neighborhoods

will always be a drain on public resources, a source of upward pressure on taxes, a reason for continuing middle-class flight from the city, and a deterrent to future investment.” (p. 124)

PADM 7224 15

Redirecting Economic Development Policy

 Potential policy responses to improve economic growth in neighborhoods:  Cooperate – not compete – with other cities

to attract investment  Linkage policies tying business investment to

neighborhood revitalization efforts (local jobs, affordable housing, mass transit, etc.)

 Create performance agreements with business investments

PADM 7224 16

Redirecting Economic Development Policy

 Imbroscio’s (1997) alternative approach to economic growth in neighborhoods  Entrepreneurial-mercantilist strategy  City officials identify new market opportunities to

improve public ends (i.e., be entrepreneurial)  Municipal-enterprise strategy  City owns economic enterprises (utilities, airports,

hospitals, etc.) to maintain control over profits  Community-based strategy  Support grassroots, community-owned nonprofits to

lead neighborhood redevelopment (e.g., CDCs, community land trusts, worker cooperatives)

PADM 7224 17

Redirecting Economic Development Policy

 What’s needed?  Urban policy rooted in communitarian principles  “The redirection in economic development may

require a more active role for government to ensure a more equitable distribution of the costs and benefits of economic growth, a stronger effort to give all citizens a meaningful stake in decision-making processes, and a renewed commitment to revitalizing urban places.” (p. 134)

PADM 7224 1

MODULE

Seminar in Urban Problems

PADM 7224

University of Memphis Department of Public &

Nonprofit Administration

Edwards & Imrie (2015) Chapters 5 & 6

3

PADM 7224 2

CHAPTER 5: COMMUNITY PLANNING AND PARTNERSHIP

Edwards & Imrie (2015) The Short Guide to Urban Policy

PADM 7224 3

Community Planning and Partnership

 Renew/improve cities through community engagement

 How do to it?

Note: Reminder that several parts of this book discuss urban policy outside of the U.S. Most of the examples in this chapter focus on community-based urban policy in the United Kingdom (UK).

PADM 7224 4

Community Planning and Partnership Defining Community

 What is community?  Complex term with socially constructed boundaries  Often seen as positive concept – used by policy-

makers to spur change (e.g., “there is a breakdown in our community, so we need to act)

 4 common conceptualizations:  Community as a place/geography (e.g., Memphis)  Community as an interest group (e.g., Black

community)  Community organizations (e.g., nonprofits)  Community as process (e.g., community development)

PADM 7224 5

Community Planning and Partnership Community & the Urban Problem

 ~19th century urbanization was described as antithesis of “community”  Conceptualization of the urban “community” was

different than the rural “community”  Urban policy typically targets “communities” to

encourage citizens to participate in urban regeneration, or create “community”

 Shift in urban policy from social community regeneration (prior late 1970s) to economic community regeneration (post late 1970s)

PADM 7224 6

Community Planning and Partnership Reinvigorating Community in the 1990s

 Communitarianism – idea that collective bonds with those around us are important to prevent social exclusion, which leads to urban decline

 Build social capital – linkages that connect people – to build urban renewal

 Communities should be given the responsibility to drive change

PADM 7224 7

Community Planning and Partnership Putting Community Activation into Practice

 Community-based urban policy changes governance – private (for-profit and non- profit) organizations have more seats at the governing table

 Level of community-involvement can vary substantially from policy to policy – from “add-ons” to “key partners”

 All communities (neighborhoods) do not have the existing expertise, knowledge, or ability to engage in policy-making

PADM 7224 8

Community Planning and Partnership Critiquing Community Involvement in Regeneration

 Unanswered questions –  Is community involvement in policy-making

simply tokenism by government or is it of actual value?

 Is the policy implemented with the level of community involvement intended in the spirit of the policy?

PADM 7224 9

Community Planning and Partnership Critiquing Community Involvement in Regeneration

 Looking for answers –  Who represents the community?  “Community” as conceptualized by policy-makers and

implementers often differs from those living in the community

 Who sets the rules for participation?  Policy-makers (city or broader) often continue to

create the top-down rules for engagement  How is power distributed in community

partnerships?  “Expert” knowledge tends to be prioritized over

“localized” knowledge

PADM 7224 10

Privatization & Entrepreneurial Urban Policy Web Links

 British Library – Community Development and Regeneration  https://www.bl.uk/social-

welfare/collection- items?allportalsubjects=community%20de velopment%20and%20regeneration

PADM 7224 11

CHAPTER 6: CULTURE & THE CREATIVE CITY

Edwards & Imrie (2015) The Short Guide to Urban Policy

PADM 7224 12

Culture & the Creative City

 Key to modern urban policy is promoting the city’s culture and creativity to improve well-being (economic