Transcript Cities Without Suburbs By David Rusk

Cities Without Suburbs
By David Rusk
Presented by
Carissa Bunning
Becky Canovan
Lyndsay Leggott
Key Terms
• Elastic
• Inelastic
• Metropolitan government
Introduction
• Elastic vs. inelastic
• Characteristics
• Strategies
• Conclusions
Characteristics of Metro Areas
• 5 categories of elasticity
– Zero
– Low
– Medium
– High
– Hyper
For a city’s population to grow,
the city must be “elastic.”
When a city stops growing, it
starts shrinking.
Elastic cities “capture” suburban
growth; inelastic cities
“contribute” to suburban growth.
Old cities are complacent,
young cities are ambitious.
Racial prejudice has shaped
growth patterns.
Fragmented local government
fosters segregation; unified local
government promotes integration.
The smaller the income gap
between city and suburb, the
greater the economic progress for
the whole metropolitan community.
Poverty is more concentrated in
inelastic cities than in elastic cities.
Characteristics of Metro Areas
• The point of no return
– City/suburb economic disparities
– The city is no longer a place in which
to invest or create jobs.
– No city past the point of return has
ever closed the economic gap with its
suburbs by as much as a single
percentage point!
Point of No Return
Characteristics of Metro Areas
• Cities without suburbs
– 2 standards
– 23 cities
• Social equity
• Economic mobility
• Availability of resources
Strategies for Stretching Cities
• End fiscal imbalance
• Diminish racial and economic segregation
• Promote economic progress
• Control urban sprawl
Urban “Triage”
• Preventative medicine
• Out-patient treatment
• Major surgery
• Life-support systems
State Government Initiatives
• Unify local governments
– Consolidate city and county
– Combine counties into regional governments
• Consolidation impact
• Authorize annexation
• Limit new municipalities
• Promote regional partnerships
Federal Government Initiatives
• Incentives for metropolitan reorganization
• Slowing urban sprawl
• Leveling the playing field
• Ending public housing contracts
Citizen Initiatives
• Voluntary civic action
• Business organizations
• Chambers of commerce
Conclusions and
Recommendations
• Metro governments are the best solution for
governing metro areas, however metro
governments are not always plausible.
• In this case, racial and economic integration
must occur.
• To achieve this, cooperation on the part of local,
state, and federal governments is essential.
Sources
• http://www.engr.utexas.edu/che/students/photos/
austin-1.cfm