Fostering local economic development in urban neighbourhoods: Results of an empirical assessment

Abstract

While it is intuitively convincing that neighbourhood characteristics add up to an important location factor, knowledge about the benefits that individual firms and entrepreneurs can draw from neighbourhood-oriented policy is still limited. This article contributes to the discussion by highlighting the results of an evaluation study of neighbourhood-oriented economic policy in Germany. It reviews the policy rationale and analyses the strategies, progress and results of selected measures supported by the Socially Integrative City programme of North Rhine-Westphalia. It focuses on the relevance of the neighbourhood context in connection with two strategy goals: (1) reduction of vacancies in local retail property, and (2) supporting business start-ups and local business networks. The analysis provides evidence for a number of aspects of the local business environment, which can play an important role for the performance of small firms and should, therefore, be a central focus of neighbourhood-oriented economic policy.