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Edited by Robert P. Inman

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"Making cities work is hard work. This book offers a thoughtful collection of new information and creative solutions that can advance the progress of our cities--and improve the quality of life in our nation. It is a must-read for those who want to lead our cities and help our nation."--Edward G. Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania and former mayor of Philadelphia

"This volume brings together provocative insights from the top urban scholars on how to make American cities better places to live and work. It is a must-read for those who care about cities."--Alice M. Rivlin, Brookings Institution

"This essay collection bristles with common sense--and even optimism. Reviewing the successes and failures, the authors conclude that cities need less from federal government, not more. What cities really need is a high quality educational system, a skilled work force, and an efficient, flexible transportation system. If the city gets all that right, it can make the successful transition from manufacturing to a modern service economy."--Paul Peterson, Harvard University

"An invaluable contribution that injects data and original research from leading analysts into the theoretical debates about the proper role of cities in today's economy. These essays cut through much of the speculation and guesswork about the causes and consequences of urban distress and give us a much clearer basis for addressing the social and economic issues of urban life over the coming decade."--Clayton Gillette, New York University School of Law

"This book is brimming with interesting ideas about how to make cities work better--from improving education and reducing crime to financing city services more effectively. Making Cities Work is sure to stimulate thought about ways to enhance the functioning of urban areas in America."--John Quigley, University of California, Berkeley

"An excellent book. Making Cities Work seeks to address a central question: what is it about successful cities that leads to growth and prosperity while other cities stagnate and decline? The unifying characteristics of all the chapters are that they are policy oriented and fairly informal--experts writing with attitude on topics they know well. I learned a lot."--Brendan O'Flaherty, Columbia University

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MAKING CITIES WORK

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables.....................................................viiForeword Robert P. Inman............................................................xiAcknowledgments Robert P. Inman.....................................................xiii1. Introduction: City Prospects, City Policies Robert P. Inman......................12. Growth: The Death and Life of Cities Edward L. Glaeser...........................223. Transportation: Urban Transportation Policy Kenneth A. Small.....................634. Space: The Design of the Urban Environment Witold Rybczynski.....................945. Housing: Urban Housing Markets Joseph Gyourko....................................1236. Immigration: How Immigration Affects U.S. Cities David Card......................1587. Race: The Perplexing Persistence of Race Jacob L. Vigdor.........................2018. Poverty: Poverty among Inner-City Children Janet Currie..........................2269. Education: Educating Urban Children Richard J. Murnane...........................26910. Crime: Crime in the City Philip J. Cook.........................................29711. Finances: Financing City Services Robert P. Inman...............................328Index................................................................................363

Chapter One

CITY PROSPECTS, CITY POLICIES

ROBERT P. INMAN

Why cities? In this era of high-speed communication, videoconferencing, rapid transit, and high-definition radio and television, could we all not work and play at home? And could not home be anywhere, where the air is clean, the streets are safe, and the schools, including home schools, are excellent? What cities have always offered-proximity and easy access-may simply not be necessary today, thus giving us the freedom to locate wherever the environment, whether the metropolis or the mountains, is most conducive to our needs and tastes. In fact, however, cities are on the upsurge. In the United States, the share of the nation's population residing in cities of over a hundred thousand residents fell from 53 percent in 1960 to 41 percent by 1980, but rebounded to 44 percent by 2005. Even more impressively, the United Nations projects that by 2020, over 55 percent of the world's population will reside in urban centers, with all the benefits and costs this will entail.

Rather than reducing the economic importance of cities, new technologies have in fact made cities even more attractive places for work and play. Efficient production in the new economy appears to require more, not fewer, personal interactions. When the market pays a premium for unique products and specialized services, then production adaptability will be essential for meeting customer demands. Adaptability requires give-and-take communication and proximity, and typically, the closer the better. The recent evidence suggests that most of the benefits of proximity are realized within one mile or less. Cities provide these productivity advantages.

Efficient consumption, particularly of services, also favors dense locations. The provision of health care, education, legal, and financial services is best done in person. The same holds true for much of retailing and entertainment. Finally, and of no small importance to those between the ages of twenty to forty, cities offer a convenient way to meet new people with interests and tastes similar to their own. As the low-cost supplier of proximity, cities have become critical locations for consumer spending.

Finally, cities today retain their historical role as centers for economic and cultural innovations. For innovation, proximity is again the key. Seminars, exhibitions, and informal collegial interactions stimulate creativity while knowledgeable patrons, financiers, and an educated and demanding populace evaluates and rewards cost-saving innovations, promising new products, and provoking or appealing artistic change. Recent estimates, for example, show that doubling the density of employment in U.S. cities leads to a 20 percent increase in patentable innovations per capita. So too, it appears, does density favor artistic innovations. London and New York are the creative centers for contemporary art. Berlin, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles-and for a time Portland, Oregon, and Seattle-are the places offering the best new music. Los Angeles (Hollywood) and Mumbai (Bollywood) are where new cinema is produced, while New York is today's center for contemporary dance, and Paris, Milan, and New York for fashion. And while one might easily dispute its inclusion as part of Western culture, there is no doubt that country music would not be what it is today, or what it has ever been, had there been no Nashville, Tennessee.

This book, Making Cities Work, provides ten chapters by leading urban scholars that seek to understand what is required for a successful city in today's economy. The chapters here update the efforts of what had been a landmark survey at its time, 1968, when the future of U.S. cities was not so bright. Titled The Metropolitan Engima: Inquiries into the Nature and Dimensions of America's Urban Crisis and edited by James Q. Wilson, that book offered the first systematic overview of social sciences' understanding of how cities work for residents and firms.

The tone of The Metropolitan Enigma was pessimistic. The observed decline of cities, and particularly the bleak economic prospects for cities' poorest residents, was seen as a consequence of larger economic, political, and social forces. Manufacturing jobs, the primary source of city employment, were leaving the city in search of cheaper land, and many residents, especially recent black in-migrants, could not follow. Federal highway expansion encouraged middle-class exit, however, further exacerbating central cities' economic declines. Economic decline led to weak city finances, while weak finances undermined educational opportunities for inner-city children. State and federal policies failed to fill the fiscal gap. Urban crime, particularly teenage crime, was a logical consequence of a weak economy, poor schooling, and the lack of city fiscal resources for a stronger police presence. Urban design theory favored large-scale public housing complexes that only made matters worse. The end result was a fundamentally dysfunctional social environment of concentrated poverty and limited economic opportunity. Seeing no future, it is then no surprise that families dissolved, single parenthood increased, and teenagers rioted. In 1968, cities were in decline.

The authors of The Metropolitan Enigma recommended a two-prong approach for easing the economic and social consequences of then failing central cities. First, spend more regional, state, and federal government money for city infrastructure and economic development. Second, relocate lower-income families into areas with better job opportunities, a richer fiscal base, and socially more functional neighborhoods. Both strategies are what we now call "place-based" strategies. The first favors city locations. If that didn't work, then the second approach was meant to help the less mobile escape their failing city for a more economically favored suburban residence.

Only the first strategy proved politically viable, and even then legislative coalitions for passage typically required funding for rural and suburban projects...