A Private Sector Model for Rebuilding Inner-city Competitiveness: Lessons from MidTown Cleveland by Margaret Murphy December 1998 The economic decline of America's inner cities has been recognized as a major national problem for the past three decades. But the work of combating it has been left largely to local community groups and public officials, with less than satisfactory results. Some believe that for inner-city revitalization to succeed, a radically different approach is needed. This new approach is known as community capitalism, and advocates say that it must be led by the private sector. The term "community capitalism" was coined at the 91st session of the American Assembly, which issued the report, Community Capitalism: Rediscovering the Markets of America's Urban Neighborhoods. This 1997 report was strongly influenced by Michael Porter's work on the "competitive advantage of inner cities." The report defines community capitalism as for-profit, business-driven expansion of investment, job creation and economic opportunities in distressed communities. Community capitalism asserts that the benefits of American capitalism can be applied to our inner cities to create both "profitable growth and improved societal conditions." The experience of MidTown Cleveland demonstrates that the private sector has a vital role to play, but it cannot by itself power urban revitalization. The private sector needs local government and community entities as its partners. This paper explains: (1) ways in which the private sector can make the market work in inner-city commercial and industrial neighborhoods; (2) the role of a nonprofit business-backed institution in rebuilding central city economies; and (3) the practical lessons from MidTown Cleveland that can help guide the creation of a national strategy for revitalizing urban neighborhoods. The 15-year experience of Cleveland's MidTown initiative offers a highly instructive model for rebuilding inner-city competitiveness that is different from conventional economic revitalization models. MidTown is a nonprofit, business-driven inner-city initiative that has succeeded in creating an economic climate for reinvestment, business growth and job creation within an older inner-city commercial and industrial area... LINK
Has anyone see this being put in place in other urban areas? If so,what have been the results? I was wondering if this was similar or different from those empowerment zones that were popular during the 90's. I think many of those had mixed results from what I remember.
The thing is that I always wonder at such ‘private sector models’ that basically need public funds to function. I mean aren’t they really just public bodies renamed to make them more ‘acceptable’ to a right wing world?
