The website Wallethub recently released a report on 2016's Fastest Growing Cities. In addition to their findings, the website asked a number of experts questions related to growth. Among the experts was Growth and Structure of Cities Professor Gary McDonogh. Below are McDonogh's answers to their questions.
Growth with equity. So many programs of growth promote problematic distributions of wealth - the center city taken over by global super-rich, or the movements from poorer areas that create pockets of poverty. In the U.S. the era of shantytowns seems behind us (but we have seen homeless people in tent cities during the recession) but the decay of inner-ring suburbs underscores problems ahead. Inclusive growth is better - bringing people into wider economic and social roles promotes better cities. But growth by any means or even unrestricted growth can make situations worse.
Planning for and controlling growth is often an obstacle as well. Many of the most liveable aspects of older cities - development of parks, public squares and spaces of art, relaxation and community, patterned subsequent growth. It is challenging to remember to plant these seeds of the future in a time of rapid expansion. Perhaps one of the great choices to make for the future concerns transportation; transportation-oriented development, for example, demands more initial investments and control of settlement than highways - but the latter produce sprawl and other problems. Anticipating, controlling and even denying growth are real challenges nonetheless.
What should be the key priority for local authorities who want to grow their cities?
Equity is clearly central. But it is also important to produce a clear, inclusive and civic-engaged vision of what authorities and people want in a good city. This is harder than borrowing ideas that are already out there but ultimately vital to the quality of urban life for the future.
Should local authorities do more to ensure current residents aren’t “priced out” of established neighborhoods in the face of population growth?
This is not easy given the role of the free property market nationwide. But there are also anchors that can promote stability - the use of conservancies, or partnerships with local institutions like churches to protect and improve the housing of their members. Chinatowns, for example (one of my research specialties) often have complex webs of ownership by associations that anchor a wider community in the face of gentrification. But yes, blending populations in an inclusive fashion is fundamental to good growth.
Are entrepreneurship and employment opportunities disproportionately better in cities that are growing quickly? How so?
Yes is the answer, but the questions of equity, future planning and choice of what opportunities are best for whom make this complicated.
Here from more experts and learn more about the fastest growing cities at Wallethub.