271 TWELVE Measuring the recovery of weak market cities From the 1970s onwards the European cities covered by this study have all suffered from multiple problems caused by profound economic restructuring. The seven cities – Belfast, Bilbao, Bremen, Leipzig, Saint-Étienne, Sheffield and Torino – all showed signs of recovery from decline, although the level of recovery varied considerably between them. The impact of industrial decline and its historic trajectory have been described in detail in the case study chapters of this book in Part Two. Urban recovery
293 THIRTEEN How do US weak market cities compare with Europe? These next three chapters look at the US experience of urban recovery. Urban regeneration in Europe has long been informed by US approaches and more recently, US cities have also started to observe European approaches. The context in which cities on both sides of the Atlantic operate is of course different. Nevertheless, we can enrich the debate about urban regeneration by examining this juxtaposition. This part of the book draws mainly on insights gained from research visits to three large old
3 ONE Introduction: what are ‘weak market cities’? Weak market cities are cities that have experienced acute loss of purpose over the last generation, going from urban industrial giants to shadows of their former glory and pre-eminence.1 Their loss of viability and purpose in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s has undermined national economies, threatened social stability and exposed the fragility of the earth’s eco-systems. Across Europe, for 200 years, from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century, there was unprecedented urban growth and industrial expansion
‘Weak market cities’ across European and America, or ‘core cities’ as they were in their heyday, went from being ‘industrial giants’ dominating their national, and eventually the global, economy, to being ‘devastation zones’. In a single generation three quarters of all manufacturing jobs disappeared, leaving dislocated, impoverished communities, run down city centres and a massive population exodus.
So how did Europeans react? And how different was their response from America’s? This book looks closely at the recovery trajectories of seven European cities from very different regions of the EU. Their dramatic decline, intense recovery efforts and actual progress on the ground underline the significance of public underpinning in times of crisis. Innovative enterprises, new-style city leadership, special neighbourhood programmes and skills development are all explored. The American experience, where cities were largely left ‘to their own devices’, produced a slower, more uncertain recovery trajectory. This book will provide much that is original and promising to all those wanting to understand the ground-level realities of urban change and progress.
This original book builds on the author’s research in Phoenix cities to present a vivid story of Europe’s post-industrial cities pre- and post- financial crisis. Using varied case studies the book explores how policy responses to the economic crisis have played out in different European cities, with their contrasting conditions, history and performance generating contrasting reactions. The book compares changes between Northern and Southern European countries, bigger and smaller cities, over the past ten years. Across the continent social cohesion, community investment and social enterprise have gained momentum as Europe’s crowded, resource-constrained cities face up to environmental and social limits faster than other less densely urban countries, such as the US. The author presents a compelling framework to show that Europe’s cities are creating a new industrial economy to combat environmental and social unravelling.
Given the rapid urbanisation of the world’s population, the converse phenomenon of shrinking cities is often overlooked and little understood. Yet with almost one in ten post-industrial US cities shrinking in recent years, efforts by government and anchor institutions to regenerate these cities is gaining policy urgency, with the availability and siting of affordable housing being a key concern.
This is the first book to look at the reasons for the failure (and success) of affordable housing experiences in the fastest shrinking cities in the US. Applying quantitative and GIS analysis using data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the authors make recommendations for future place-based siting practices, stressing its importance for ensuring more equitable urban revitalisation. The book will be a valuable resource for academic researchers and students in urban studies, housing and inequality, as well as policy makers.
Social policy is now central to political debate in Britain. What has been achieved by efforts to improve services and reduce poverty? What is needed to deliver more effective and popular services to all and increase social justice? How can we make social policy work? These are some of the questions discussed in this new and wide-ranging collection of essays by a distinguished panel of leading social policy academics.
The book covers key issues in contemporary social policy, particularly concentrating on recent changes. It examines the history and goals of social policy as well as its delivery, focusing in turn on the family and the state, schools, higher education, healthcare, social care, communities and housing. Redistribution is also examined, exploring child poverty, pension reform and resources for welfare.
The essays in this collection have been specially written to honour the 70th birthday of Howard Glennerster whose pioneering work has been concerned not only with the theoretical, historical and political foundations of social policies but, crucially, with how they work in practice. It is a collection of primary importance for those working in and interested in policy and politics in a wide variety of fields and for students of social policy, public policy and the public sector.
wider urban reform all point to continuing recovery efforts, and therefore progress. The core lesson from these cities seems to be that by working at problems, adopting a long-term approach and pursuing what works, change is possible. However, three factors make the recovery of US weak market cities particularly problematic: • the lack of historic and deeply embedded urban infrastructure and culture, the relatively low overall population density of the US and federal support for the occupation and development of suburban land far beyond cities encouraged sprawl
‘Weak market cities’ across European and America, or ‘core cities’ as they were in their heyday, went from being ‘industrial giants’ dominating their national, and eventually the global, economy, to being ‘devastation zones’. In a single generation three-quarters of all manufacturing jobs disappeared, leaving dislocated, impoverished communities, run-down city centres, and a massive population exodus. So how did Europeans react? And how different was their response from America’s? This book looks closely at the recovery trajectories of seven European cities from very different regions of the EU. Their dramatic decline, intense recovery efforts, and actual progress on the ground underline the significance of public underpinning in times of crisis. Innovative enterprises, new-style city leadership, special neighbourhood programmes, and skills development are all explored. The American experience, where cities were largely left ‘to their own devices’, produced a slower, more-uncertain recovery trajectory.
‘Weak market cities’ across European and America, or ‘core cities’ as they were in their heyday, went from being ‘industrial giants’ dominating their national, and eventually the global, economy, to being ‘devastation zones’. In a single generation three-quarters of all manufacturing jobs disappeared, leaving dislocated, impoverished communities, run-down city centres, and a massive population exodus. So how did Europeans react? And how different was their response from America’s? This book looks closely at the recovery trajectories of seven European cities from very different regions of the EU. Their dramatic decline, intense recovery efforts, and actual progress on the ground underline the significance of public underpinning in times of crisis. Innovative enterprises, new-style city leadership, special neighbourhood programmes, and skills development are all explored. The American experience, where cities were largely left ‘to their own devices’, produced a slower, more-uncertain recovery trajectory.
