Introduction.
Urban planning is “the process by which our society decides what gets built where” (Fulton, W., Shigley, P., 2018, p. 9) and seems fairly easy to implement; however, nothing can be further from reality. “A neighborhood is a physical and social environment where people interact with each other and share a collective identity [,] … if all residents in the neighborhood maintain their properties well, then everyone in it would benefit” (Chau, K., Wong, S., 2014). Urban design, planning, and implementation of general and specific plans create tension, can uproot families, dissolve businesses and destroy family income. On the positive spectrum, urban planning can reinvigorate neighborhoods, create new economies, replace blight with ambience, and add to the quality of life of citizens and visitors alike.
The intent of this article is to discover how early industrial cities thrived and why other communities were abandoned. Secondly, I aim to identify if sound planning set the conditions for successful economies, or whether economic activity allowed the circumstances for a thriving urban setting? And if the latter was true, what type of economic activity spawned vigorous and meaningful urban ecosystems.
Is Location King?
“Location, location, location”, a 1944 quote by Harold Samuel, founder of Land Securities in the United Kingdom, has been a real estate development moniker for decades. Citizens, governments, and private corporations have fought for and paid a premium for locations deemed economically auspicious. However, this is not always the determinant when it comes to a city’s economic growth.
In “The Economy of Cities” Jane Jacobs questioned whether “New York grew so rapid after 1825 ‘because’ of the Erie Canal” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 142). “Jersey City has as good an access to the Erie Canal and the Atlantic Ocean as Manhattan did [,] …also had the added advantage of being on the mainland (Jacobs, 1970, p.142). After Alexander Hamilton observed the start of Manhattan’s development, he noted that “Jersey City had an even more advantageous location, buoyantly predicted that Jersey City would become ‘the metropolis of the world’” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 142).
Jacobs added that “Paris was at first no more the seat of the French kings [,]…Orleans, another center of trade, was more imposing than Paris [,]…Paris became the genuine capital only after it had already become the largest (and economically the most diversified) commercial and industrial city of the kingdom” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 143). Jacobs continued that “Berlin was not even the capital of its province — Brandenburg was [,]…London was neither de factor nor formally the capital of England — Winchester was the secular capital and Canterbury the ecclesiastical capital — until the eleventh century when [,]…become the largest) and economically the most diversified) commercial and industrial center of the kingdom” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 143).
“Many cities engaging in enormous trade occupy notably inferior trading sites [,] …Tokyo and Los Angeles are examples” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 141). “A senator from Maine — a state with many fine harbors but no very consequential cities -once told the people of Los Angeles, ‘You have made a big mistake in the location of your city’ [,]…’you should have put it at some point where a harbor already exists’ [,]…’instead of calling on the US government to give you something which nature has refused!’” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 141).
Economic Activity Pumps Blood into a City.
Pusca, quoting Richard Sennet (Flesh and Stone, 1994), said that “space and construction often being directly derived from knowledge of the body, organs, and blood circulation [,]… the Roman city, [,]… was designed to function very much like the body: with a center that pumped ‘blood’ into the city and peripheries that served to feed the center [,]…community life [,]…brought individuals together in central squares during the day and dispersed them in individual and family accommodations during the night” (Pusca, 2010). From this statement, one can safely assume that the blood of the city is vigorous economic activity. Currency is the vital fluid that keeps communities going, growing, and thriving.
The Disadvantage of the Well-Planned, One-Industry Company Town.
Jacobs claimed that “one of the great advantages of a company town, for the company, is that there are few alternative ways for people to earn their livings [,] …. this does not promote economic growth” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 102). Much like company towns, “communist industrial cities were often artificially created from scratch: people and construction and production materials were uprooted and brought in from different parts of the country, appeased by the promise of an urban lifestyle [,]… the industrial platform — formed the belly button (*umbilicus) of the communist industrial city” (Pusca, 2010).
Despite that planned communities contained all of the necessities of a quality work/life balance, Jacobs stated that cities or company towns that are not economically diversified (as the result of dominance of a few large conglomerates and lack of smaller, specialized businesses), the conditions do not lead to vigorous economic activity. It is no surprise that many well-designed company towns no longer exist.
The Thriving Town: Economic Evolution and Urban Renewal.
Jacobs did not agree with “people who think of cities simply as towns that have kept growing larger [,]…rather, an ‘epigenesis’ theory of cities: the idea that a city grown by a process of gradual diversification and differentiation of its economy” (Jacobs, 1970, p. 129). When multiple industries exist, they both challenge and support each other’s growth. The competition to deliver better goods and services feeds the energy of the city’s economy. Companies and well-planned cities thrive because the constituent parts benefit each other.
Chau and Wong quoted Davis and Whinston in saying that the “Slumlords’ Dilemma, is that a neighborhood would end up deteriorating because no one has an incentive to maintain his/her building for the benefit of others” (Chau, K., Wong, S., 2013). If there is not enough diversification in a city’s economy, then urban planning also becomes an exercise from a point of scarcity and not abundance.
“The degree of positive externalities brough by urban renewal depends on the scale of an urban renewal project, as well as the amount of commercial areas included in the project” (Chau, K., Wong, S., 2013). Li, et. al. quoted Caree and Turik that “a high degree of vertical disintegration and specialization, agglomeration economies are constructive for small firms to compensate for their disadvantages in scale economies [,]… a diverse industrial structure would also enhance productivity and promote innovation through cross-fertilization [,]…. in contrast, regional industrial concentration may negatively affect firm productivity and local economic growth (Li, Z., et. al., 2018).
Conclusion.
Jane Jacobs and other authors contend that industrial cities of old and planned communities of new thrive, not just because of location, but mainly of vigorous economic activity of both large and small businesses. Thriving economic activity is followed by equally successful urban planning. It is when economic activity slows down or stops that urban planning becomes more difficult and contentious. The best way to promote urban harmony between communities is much like the cooperation between mutually supporting industries.
Copyright Leonard Casiple 2023. All rights reserved.
About the author: Leo Casiple is a first-generation American who grew up in Southern Philippines under martial law. He spent much of his 21-year career in the US Army as a Green Beret.
Leo is currently a doctoral student at Northeastern University’s Doctor of Law and Policy program (2022–2025 Cohort). He earned his education from California Lutheran University (MPPA), ASU Thunderbird School of Global Management (MBA in Global Management), Excelsior University (BS in Liberal Arts, Ethnic and Area Studies), Academy of Competitive Intelligence (Master of Competitive Intelligence™), Defense Language Institute and Foreign Language Center (18-month Arabic Language Course), and the US Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (Special Forces Qualification Course and Psychological Operations Specialist Course).
For more information about the author, click here: Leo’s LinkedIn Profile
References
Chau, K. W., & Wong, S. K. (2014). Externalities of urban renewal: a real option perspective. The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, 48(3), 546–560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11146-013-9418-z
Fulton, W. B., & Shigley, P. (2018). Guide to California planning (5th ed.). Solano Press Books.
Jacobs, J. (1970). The Economy of Cities. Vintage.
Li, Z., Ding, C., Niu, Y., & SpringerLink (Online service). (2019). Industrial structure and urban agglomeration: evidence from chinese cities, Volume:63.
Mining, L. (2019, August 23). 36 real estate quotes that are so accurate it’s scary. Active Campaign. https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/real-estate-quotes
Pusca, A. (0AD). Industrial and human ruins of post communist europe. Pusca, Anca. 2010. Industrial and Human Ruins of Post Communist Europe. Space and Culture, 13(3), Pp. 239–255. [Article]. http://eprints.gold.ac.uk/3439/1/PuscaSpace_and_Culture_As_Published.pdf.