PARTNERING FOR PROSPERITY
CITIES AND SUBURBS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
written by Pino Di Mascio
edited by Jon A. Carnegie, PP, AICP
There is an increasing understanding, on the part of many planners and policy makers that the futures of our cities and suburbs are intricately linked. Unfortunately however, there are few examples of collaborative partnering to bring together urban and suburban citizens in an effort to develop solutions to shared economic and social problems from regional perspective. Last fall, twelve non-profit organizations in the state organized a conference to address this pressing need. The conference ? Cities/Suburbs, Partnerships for Economic Prosperity: A Focus on Solutions ? was designed as a brainstorming session. Held on September 16, 1995 at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, the conference attracted 100 participants from around the state. It focused on ways to overcome existing obstacles to regional cooperation and explored ideas designed to reverse the economic decline of urban areas in New Jersey. Theodore Hershberg of the Center for Greater Philadelphia, who delivered the keynote address, focused on the need for cities and suburbs to collaborate in order to thrive locally. Mr. Hershberg stressed the importance of regional units in the emerging global economy. His address set the framework for a panel of New Jersey community leaders and activists who discussed their experiences in establishing regional initiatives and collaborations. Later in the session, conference participants broke into six working groups to further explore how they could apply the concepts of regional cooperation in their own communities.
The conference underscored the difficulties in bringing together urban and suburban interests to develop a regional perspective. It made clear, however, that it is critical for New Jersey's cities and suburbs to work together. The global economy has initiated regionalization, New Jersey municipalities need to take this opportunity to "Think Globally and Thrive Locally."
Thinking Globally...
Today's global economy is dramatically different from that of decades past. The era of "national economic units," and American dominance within that system, is all but over. For better or worse, the global economy in the 1990s consists of regional economic units competing to attract investment from large, footloose, trans-national corporations. The 90's global economy is less influenced by competition between nation-states, like the United States versus Japan or Germany. Instead, New York competes with London and Tokyo, Los Angeles with Frankfurt and Milan, and Atlanta with Shanghai and Melbourne. The importance of regional entities is underscored by the emergence of Silicon Valley in Northern California, Route 28 in the Boston area and the Rutgers-Princeton research corridor in Central New Jersey as international foci of economic importance.
This new world of inter-regional competition has established a vastly different dynamic between urban and suburban communities. The global economy has created a single unit out of what has traditionally been seen as fractured and divided urban regions. This has made the competition between the suburbs and cities for residents and jobs counter-productive. In Mercer County, New Jersey for instance, municipalities compete fiercely for new ratables. Some towns have and are still realizing high levels of growth, while, others like Trenton and nearby older suburbs continue to lose jobs and population. Mercer County as a whole is losing both manufacturing and research jobs to other regions throughout the world. The impact of parochialism in economic development may not have been significant in the era of national economies, however, in the global economy, trans-national corporations can easily move jobs around the globe. This means that urban and suburban communities must come to understand that they are on the same team ? their fortunes are intertwined.
Thriving Locally!
How does a region, and more importantly the people in a region, thrive in the global economy? Do we simply adhere to the principles of the economic globalization, and succumb to the demands of trans-national businesses? Such practices might attract investment. However, will they improve the quality of life within a region? Will they work reduce the divisions and inequities among the people living in the region's various communities?
Ratables races that depend on city-suburban competition are not productive in a global economy. The importance of the global economy should turn the focus of local planning to intra-regional linkages. The idea of a regional perspective is nothing new. The difference is that now regionalization has become a matter of economic necessity. Communities need to recognize that a healthy environment, sound land use policy, and social justice are essential components of a sustainable economy and, thus, a sustainable region.
What Needs to Be Done
What is needed is a set of "real" projects to demonstrate that: the lives of all residents in a region are connected. It must be demonstrated that urban and suburban communities are indeed part of one region, and that through collaborative efforts all will benefit and prosper. Toward this end, the lead organizers of the Conference, the League of Women Voters, MSM Regional Council, New Jersey Future, NJAPA, ANJEC, and the New Jersey Environmental Lobby, have agreed to continue working together. Through each organizations' efforts we will work to identify collaborative projects and will keep each other informed on our progress and experiences. It is hoped that a strong network regional actors will emerge through which regional collaborations can be initiated and supported.
One initiative already underway is being undertaken by Middlesex Somerset Mercer (MSM) Regional Council. Their three-year "FORUM 2020" visioning project for central New Jersey was begun in the Spring. The goal of FORUM 2020 is to develop a comprehensive long range plan for economic growth in the region that emphasizes sustainability. Part of the project will be to identify how central New Jersey as a regional entity fits into the global economy. It is hoped that through this exercise they will create a framework through which regional collaborations in the areas of economy, environment, infrastructure, land use, governance, and quality of life can be established ? a framework through which decision-makers in central New Jersey can "Think Globally" and "Thrive Locally."
Pino Di Mascio is a Planning Associate and Jon Carnegie is a Project Manager for Middlesex Somerset Mercer (MSM) Regional Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to sound land-use planning and regional cooperation.