What Happened?
At a recent ICIC Inner City Economic Summit, experts exchanged research and insight into the persistent issue of urban growth and how to harness the momentum to increase prosperity and development. Despite undergoing significant changes and population fluctuations, 64 percent of inner cities have performed worse than their regions in the past 10 years.
The Goal
Because inner cities function and respond differently to initiatives and stimuli than rural or suburban communities, some best practices have been recognized for successful development and minimal adverse outcomes. The main concerns for most inner cities are high poverty and unemployment rates. Research compiled in the past decade revealed:
- 90 percent of inner cities experienced increased poverty and unemployment
- All 339 inner cities make up less than 1 percent of total land area in the country but house 15 percent of the nation’s unemployment, 25 percent of U.S. poverty and more than one third of minority poverty
Researchers have found the relationship between regional and inner city growth is 8 percent for inner cities in the largest 100 cities, compared to 1 percent for all inner cities nationwide. Thus, regions with inner-city specific development strategies in place are more likely to overcome struggles and improve economic performance.
Once inner city strategies have been developed, it is important to track their progress, make swift adjustments and report on all results. The more data collected in real-time - similar to the system Portland currently uses - the easier it will be to pinpoint the most successful strategies. When local assets, space and behaviors go unchecked for prolonged periods of time, as has been seen in Kansas City, urban sprawl occurs and many projects end up failing.
When regions plan for development initiatives, inner cities must create their own strategies to boost competitiveness and prosperity by leveraging available resources and known patterns of behavior. Inner cities already have certain competitive advantages over other regions that lay the foundation for successful growth such as location, local market demand, regional clusters and an extensive workforce population.
In Chicago, a landscape architect is looking beyond the revitalization of abandoned space and is looking to allow neighborhoods to manage clusters of blocks as they see fit to meet local needs.
Researchers have defined three main drivers for inner city success:
- Improving local business environments Inner city decision makers must provide strategic investments that utilize local assets and support shared value opportunities. When businesses offer to bring in new jobs while adding value to the community it is more likely the institution will enjoy long-term sustainability.
- Adopting a cluster-oriented growth strategy Inner cities must embrace existing clusters and design growth strategies around these groups to build off an already cultivated foundation and network.
- Providing support for business growth efforts To enable development projects, inner cities must make it easier for businesses to access capital and network with appropriate partners to complete projects efficiently. Education and communications make these connections possible.
Focus On The Problems
Gov1 has followed many strategies to make information more accessible to residents and combat systemic issues such as unemployment.