CHAPTER 7 : IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICY "A vision of the future can act as a stimulus, rather than an answer. It can be the grain of sand in the oyster, not the pearl." Ronald A. Heifetz and Riley M. Sinder Context The debate about the interdependence of cities and suburbs within academic and popular circles did not arise in isolation. Rather, it emerged within a context of declining urban political clout and at a time when scholars and journalists were arguing that suburbs no longer needed cities.57 Author Joel Garreau, for example, promotes the concept of edge cities as a new form of development: multidimensional, functionally evolved and independent of central cities. Around 1990, the political influence of urban areas began to shift. Prior to that time, support for resources to address central city problems focused primarily on fairness and equity. However, the declining share of voters in cities and the waning strategic importance of urban issues on the political landscape diluted the strength of such arguments. Thus a new body of research and analysis emerged which focused not only on equity, but also on economics. This research looked at cities as the engines of the regional economy and the linchpin of overall metropolitan growth and vitality. The policy question then shifted to whether suburbs could afford to ignore central city issues and problems, without an eventual adverse impact on suburban economic interests. Different Futures? This study questions whether urban and suburban areas are on different trajectories. Various data presented suggest that indeed there has been a pulling apart between these two areas. Furthermore, trends indicate the most likely future scenario is a continuation on disparate trajectories. What will be the likely impact of urban-suburban disparity on overall regional vitality and prosperity? A number of authors and scholars point to negative economic consequences. Anthony Downs, for example, suggests that if the suburban population continues to turn its back on the problems of the central cities, it will bring about severe economic and social crisis not only in the cities, but eventually in the suburbs as well. A Basis for Public Policy Scholars point out that economic arguments alone provide an insufficient basis for policy making. Regardless of whether one views the economic arguments as compelling, social equity and public policy issues persist. One author, Todd Swanstrom, suggests that the debate about the interdependence of cities and suburbs “will not be settled by amassing more economic facts.” He suggests that a preoccupation with economic forces and interests excludes discussion of important political and social values and also leads to a false dichotomy: between liberalism (characterized by government intervention) and conservatism (characterized by the free market). He concludes that no amount of data-gathering can finesse the central question, which is one of policy. Swanstrom also points out that even if researchers were to conclude that suburbanites had succeeded in creating a society completely separate from cities, important questions remain. For example, is the separation created by the operations of a free market, maximizing economic interests? Or is it created by values and beliefs (racism, for example) and institutional structures which perpetuate separation? The author asserts that if the latter is true, public policies should avoid perpetuating city-suburban separation. Study Topics and Findings This report considered: • national, regional and local research and literature pertaining to metropolitan form, function and vitality; • past, current, and future conditions and trends which provide context on the Bay Area’s position vis à vis the nation and other regions; and • the degree of regional connection based on economic, social, academic, cultural and environmental linkages. Interdependence A solid body of evidence supports mutual interest and concern based either on economics or equity, depending on one’s orientation and philosophy. Taken together, the preponderance of information presented in this report argues for urban-suburban interdependence. Cities and suburbs no longer have the kind of dependent relationship they once had. However, they are not independent of each other either. Rather, the relationships are complex, multidimensional and multidirectional . . . hence the term “inter dependent." Also, most evidence suggests that the relationships are likely to be complementary, rather than competitive, and most scholars indicate that this complementarity is likely to increase in the emerging economy. Global Economic Restructuring This report also presents information on the changing global economy and potential overall impacts on regional employment and labor force and, more specifically, implications for cities and suburban areas. The report concludes that although cities and suburbs are interdependent, they are not equally affected by past and future economic restructuring. Instead, it appears that absent outside intervention, there will likely be continued bifurcation within cities and polarization between relative affluence in the suburbs and relative concentrations of poverty and minority populations in the cities. As a recent U.S. Office of Technology (OTA) report states: “Cities face a challenge in how to bridge what appears to be a growing gap between the skills required for employment in advanced services concentrated in urban cores, and the limited skills that many young big-city residents bring to the job market.”59 Moreover, indicators suggest that regional economic competitiveness will depend, in part, on overcoming the problems of the weakest link in the metropolitan economy, which exists in parts of the central cities and older suburbs. "Geographically targeted economic development activities which draw on particular resources and strengths of ethnic communities and empower community institutions are particularly important in global cities." Richard LeGates, Michael Potepan, and Elisa Barbour Policy Implications Examples of existing research and policy work to advance a targeted, strategic approach to regional economic development have been briefly discussed in Chapter 4. However, much more can be done. For example, building upon the regional industrial cluster analysis approach developed by the Bay Area Economic Forum, a finer-grained assessment of localized comparative advantage could be prepared to: • maximize competitive advantages for central cities, older suburbs and newer suburbs, by identifying and developing industry clusters for each, since the competitive advantages for particular cities could vary significantly from the region as a whole. Policy work to support strategic economic development in urban areas could, for example, expand upon research and analysis begun by LeGates, Potepan, and Barbour, extending it beyond San Francisco to other cities and older suburbs in the region to: • consider future employment opportunities relative to the local labor force, and identify sectors likely to provide entry-level jobs and occupations with significant growth potential, particularly those where wages are high relative to education/skills. One strategy option to promote integrated regional economic development would be to: • consider ways to improve data collection and analysis so that it is as useful as possible to public and private professionals involved in economic revitalization. In addition to the examples above, which primarily emphasize economic development and urban data and policy analysis, other strategy options focus on: • job training and public private partnership; • infrastructure planning and financing; • regional promotion of arts and culture; • inter-jurisdictional collaboration and service delivery; • race relations; • housing supply and affordability; • media and public relations to promote a regional identity and to publicize innovative projects and programs; and • the development of an urban agenda at federal and state levels. David Rusk, author of Cities Without Suburbs, comments that the increasing polarization of urban and suburban areas requires a strong, multifaceted, regional response. “It is not important that local residents have their garbage picked up by metro-wide garbage service or their parks managed by a metro-wide parks and recreation department.” It is important, however, that local and regional governments develop integrated policies and strategies that will diminish racial and economic disparities and increase the region’s ability to compete.