Professor Barry Bluestone Professor Paul Grogan Northeastern University

1. The 21st Century City: Urban Opportunities and Challenges in a Global ContextPublic Policy & Urban Affairs G6201Seminar 1“What Makes a City a City” Professor Barry Bluestone Professor Paul Grogan Northeastern University

2. What Makes Cities Special? • Density • Diversity • Positive Externalities • Negative Externalities • Love/Hate Relationship with Central Cities • Love/Hate Relationship with Suburbs

3. Basic Social Functions of Urban Areas • Large-scale production of goods and services • Technical and social innovation • Provide a desirable residential environment • Provide a social support system for residents • Source: Bradbury, Downs, and Small, Urban Decline and the Future of American Cities (Brookings, 1982)

4. Large Scale Production of Goods and Services • Maintain and generate export (economic base) activities • Maintain and generate production for local use • Provide employment and earnings to residents and others in the region • Maintain, improve, and replace stock of non-residential structures (i.e. industrial, commercial, & public buildings) • Maintain a labor pool of varying skills and specializations • Source: Bradbury, Downs, and Small, Urban Decline and the Future of American Cities (Brookings, 1982)

5. Technical and Social Innovation • Stimulate innovations leading to higher productivity • Provide means for communications • Provide higher educational programs • Provide households with opportunities for upward mobility • Provide centralized facilities for face-to-face contact • Provide opportunities for employment, education, and exercise of leadership for groups subjected to social or economic discrimination • Source: Bradbury, Downs, and Small, Urban Decline and the Future of American Cities (Brookings, 1982)

6. Residential Environment • Maintain, improve, and replace stock of residential structures • Provide neighborhood amenities: attractive appearance, safety, freedom from excessive noise, and social interactions • Provide retailing facilities for residents • Source: Bradbury, Downs, and Small, Urban Decline and the Future of American Cities (Brookings, 1982)

7. Social Support System • Provide educational programs for children • Provide cultural, recreational, religious, and entertainment services and facilities • Provide health care services and facilities • Source: Bradbury, Downs, and Small, Urban Decline and the Future of American Cities (Brookings, 1982)

8. Urban Governance • Provide an effective system of justice for settling conflicts and disputes • Maintain an efficient and equitable system of taxation to support government functions • Maintain government institutions for coping with changes in local conditions • Facilitate citizens’ participation in local government decisions • Source: Bradbury, Downs, and Small, Urban Decline and the Future of American Cities (Brookings, 1982)

9. Supporting Functions • Provide public order and personal security • Provide and maintain transportation systems • Provide a system for collecting capital to finance consumer, business, government, and other activities • Provide and distribute energy resources required for other activities • Maintain, improve, and replace physical infrastructure • Dispose of wastes and protect the environment • Source: Bradbury, Downs, and Small, Urban Decline and the Future of American Cities (Brookings, 1982)

10. Key Urban Issues – Economic Prosperity • Contextof Urban Change - Macroeconomic, Technological, and Demographic • Uneven Growth of Metro Areas • Increased Income Inequality among Metro Areas • Changing conditions of Inner City neighborhoods • Source: Wyly, Glickman, and Lahr, “A Top 10 List of Things to Know about American Cities,” Cityscape, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1998

11. The Changing Fortunes ofMetro Areas

14. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, SOCDS Data Set

19. 2005 1969

20. 2005 1969

22. Key Urban Issues • Foreign Immigration • Decentralizationof Metro Areas • Urban Flight/Interregional Migration • Social Polarization within cities • Land Use & Environmental Sustainability • Transportation & Infrastructure • Urban Education • Crime and Neighborhood Security • Housing Affordability • Fiscal Condition • Civic Engagement

23. Key Questions • Who has Competitive Advantage (individuals, firms, areas)? • Why are some cities/metro areas more successful than others in attracting industry and people? • Saving Cities vs. Saving People • Who has access to resources; who doesn’t; and why? • Assets and income flows • Political Power and Influence: Elites, Regimes, Pluralism • Constant battle over competitive advantage: Use of market forces and political institutions to gain competitive advantage

24. Market Forces vs. Institutional Factors • Market Forces vs. Institutional Factors • Market Forces: technology, individual preferences, • Institutional Factors: public policy (federal, state, local) • Exit vs. voice • Mobile vs. immobile capital • Positive and Negative Externalities of market forces • Intended and Unintended Consequences of Public Policy

25. Key Actors/Anchor Institutions • Government Officials • Business Leaders • Union Leaders • Community/Neighborhood Advocates • University Officials • Local Foundations