Rethinking Urban Policy Urban Development in an Advanced Economy (1983) / Chapter Skim
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4 Basic Concepts for Urban Economic Strategies
4 Basic Concepts for Urban Economic Strategies
Pages 59-70
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From page 59... ...
The transformation of urban areas and the emergence of a new urban system raise questions about how policies concerned with the economic change and development of urban areas can be reconciled with policies concerned primarily with the overall national economy. For some urban areas the transition to a new kind of economy is already well advanced; for others it is just beginning.
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From page 60... ...
Some of the sectors that are in decline will not be substantially revived by general economic recovery because structural changes in those sectors will permanently eliminate many jobs that previously existed. That the conditions of each area are unique does not mean that there is no place for national policy concerned with urban economic development or that all of the problems are entirely local in nature.
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From page 61... ...
The Full Employment Act, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) , the Area Redevelopment Act, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the antipoverty program, and the Model Cities program were all manifestations expressed through the political system of a national interest in intergroup and interregional equity and widely distributed economic opportunity.
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From page 62... ...
~ In recent years this interest has involved providing infrastructure, such as the interstate highway system, the urban mass transportation program, capital grants for sewage treatment, and a system of fiscal transfers designed to assist states and localities in maintaining levels of public services for their residents and adequate systems of infrastructure for the growth of local economies. Although historically the national interest in urban economic development has included a recognition that the aggregate level of growth can be materially retarded if some region or group is left substantially behind others, it has not included a systematic approach to either regional development or the flow of capital to particular sectors of the economy which may also have important regional implications (Schwartz and Choate 1 980:65-871.
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From page 63... ...
The flight of private capital affects the availability of public capital, since most jurisdictions depend heavily on the growth in the assessable base of real property as the principal source of revenues for public capital investments. Thus, where private capital expansion is slow, intergovernmental fiscal transfers become increasingly important as a means of meeting budget needs (U.S.
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From page 64... ...
It also involves developing programs that encourage redundant workers and other unemployed people to redirect their interests and skills to other occupations and, in many cases, to other places. In an age of international competition and rapid technological changes, both with pervasive impacts on American economic structure, strategies seem called for to avoid future high rates of obsolescence for groups of workers by the development of transferable skills and of continuing programs of transitional education and training for much of the labor force.
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From page 65... ...
. In a strategy that is concerned with how to channel the mainstream of economic growth and that builds on the strengths of the local economy, a number of factors are important: · the size of the market and the quality of the producer services; · the mix of industries and the skills available in the labor force; · educational, health, and cultural institutions; · amenities; and · the quality of public facilities and other capital stock.
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From page 66... ...
This may be done with measures to stimulate new jobs in existing communities as well as by enhancing the ability of other displaced workers to follow opportunities to other areas. Thus, strategies for those left behind whether they are workers whose skills are made redundant by changing markets and technology, the unskilled working poor, or members of the emerging underclass— include elements of education, training or retraining, capital investment, local job creation, and mobility assistance.
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From page 67... ...
Sudden population growth and economic expansion induce a process of growth and development that seems almost self-generating. For these areas the strategic problem is likely to be one of managing development to avoid future social and environmental costs and to provide public facilities and services in reasonable sequence with the development
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From page 68... ...
At the federal level, urban policy has been inconstant, making it virtually impossible to make long-term plans that rely on federal programs. Those places that seem to have produced the most successful economic development strategies usually have a stable political regime and an underlying consensus among leadership groups on overall goals.
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From page 69... ...
In an age in which capital is highly mobile, several places can be equally suitable, from an objective view, for many economic activities. Thus, the qualitative aspects of the urban environment are becoming more important factors in economic development strategy physical appearance, public and commercial services, the cultural atmosphere, the quality of the educational system, the proximity of research institutions, and parks and recreation resources.
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From page 70... ...
To facilitate adjustment of urban areas to new, long-term economic roles and to smooth the transition, it would be prudent to balance actions that accelerate change in the aggregate national economy with policies that help stabilize communities as they undergo substantial change. In this context, communities and their residents should be encouraged and enabled to rethink their roles and to identify and pursue appropriate functions in the urban system.
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