Revitalizing American cities

Abstract

Revitalizing American Cities, Susan M. Wachter and Kimberley A. Zeuli (eds), Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014, v + 322pp, £45.50, ISBN 978-0-8122-4555-4This is a very timely contribution to the urban literature. Over the last two decades it has been the largest 'world cities' that have been grabbing all the headlines, not least London with 'agglomeration economies' causing it to surge ahead of its UK competitors. In recent years, however, the tide has been turning, with both academic and policy attention shifting towards the medium-sized and smaller cities. In England the second-tier cities have, as the 'Core Cities Group', been lobbying central government for more resources and delegated powers. New research programmes are examining 'shrinking cities' and city decline and looking for signs of resurgence among those places that have been hardest hit by the contraction of mining and manufacturing and been largely bypassed by the new growth sectors. And not just in the UK, but across Europe (especially in the former Communist bloc) and also America.This edited volume on America's mediumsized and smaller cities is essentially a call to arms for the people who care about their future, not least their own residents and their elected representatives. It is premised on the belief that revitalisation will not happen by itself, but instead requires action based on a better understanding of the drivers of growth. It forms the culmination of a bringing together of over 400 researchers, policymakers, community development leaders, government officials, bankers and foundations at a conference on building resilient communities hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in 2012. It focuses primarily on the observation that some of these cities are indeed reinventing themselves - acting as 'the unlikely pioneers of post-industrial urban revitalization' (back cover) - and sets itself the task of discovering how they have been regaining their footing.Following a four-page introduction by the editors, the book comprises 13 chapters, arranged in four parts. The first, with four chapters, reviews what is known about city decline and revival in America. Glaeser kicks off with an exploration of the historic drivers of city growth, emphasising the importance of human capital and essential services. Duranton's chapter points to the critical role played by transportation, industry clusters and, again, human capital. Fee and Hartley stress the competitive advantage of cities attaching to their Central Business Districts. Cochrane and colleagues compare city and suburban growth across the 100 largest metropolitan areas since 1970 and highlight that, for the first time in 2010-2011, the aggregate of cities outpaced the suburbs in terms of both population and employment growth.Under the banner of 'discovering resilience', the second part comprises three chapters of case studies and comparative analyses demonstrating the repercussions of different responses to decline, with a focus on smaller industrial cities. Kodrzycki and Munoz examine cities that have been successful in weathering the economic shocks of the past half-century and identify which strategies worked and which did not. Zeuli shows how dissimilar outcomes from economic shocks are linked to the capacity of local actors to effect change and stresses the importance of striving for industrial diversification. Mallach shows how 'coming-back' cities have managed to attract new talent by harnessing a range of natural, historical and cultural assets.Part three comprises three chapters that look at land and neighbourhood policy in the light of many of the former industrial centres suffering from a legacy of deteriorated physical fabric. Brophy argues for the importance of targeted neighbourhood policies that lead to the more efficient provision of essential services for schools and crime and thereby attract more of the social 'middle' and expand the tax base. …