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Land Use; Foreign Countries; Public Policy; Urban Population; Urbanization; Urban Planning; Urban Problems; Urban Renewal; Government Role; Federal Regulation; Local Government; Local Issues; Space Utilization; Performance Factors; Comparative Education; Policy Analysis

Abstract:
Urbanization almost invariably accompanies development, and the cities of India and China are experiencing spectacular increases in population. The concentration of millions of people in a small mass creates challenges for public policy, especially in the areas of basic infrastructure, public health, traffic congestion, and often law enforcement as well. In this essay, I discuss five core debates in urban policy, including the optimal degree of federalism, private versus public provision of urban services, optimal land use regulation, appropriate spatial policies, and the use of engineering and economics approaches to reducing the negative consequences of density. None of these debates are close to being resolved, but researchers have managed to generate a number of useful insights in these areas. (Contains 5 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Academic Achievement; Low Achievement; Charter Schools; Pilot Projects; Compensatory Education; Principals; Disadvantaged Environment; Educational Change; Urban Problems; Urban Schools; Elementary Schools; Improvement Programs; Cultural Capital; Disadvantaged; Policy Analysis; Educational History; Achievement Gap; Educational Principles; Educational Environment; Educational Practices; Educational Strategies; Educational Policy; Minority Group Students; Program Effectiveness; Case Studies

Abstract:
This article is a case study of compensatory education as it was developed and implemented by an innovative urban school principal in the early 1960s. I argue that while the compensatory education movement was often marred by pejorative-sounding language and inegalitarian ideas, especially as it was shaped and expanded by policy makers and district administrators, it also had roots in the work of school-based educators such as Marcus Foster, who approached it as a mechanism for raising academic achievement in urban schools. Foster won acclaim in the 1960s for his work as a principal and superintendent, only to be assassinated in 1973 by the Symbionese Liberation Army as a protest against an allegedly racist school system. I focus here on his tenure as principal of the Dunbar Elementary School in North Philadelphia from 1958 to 1963. Under Foster's leadership, Dunbar participated in the Ford Foundation's Great Cities School Improvement Program, which helped shape compensatory education approaches taken in the federal War on Poverty and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Even as it quickly became a centerpiece of federal policy, compensatory education was denounced by some critics for blaming low achievement on the alleged "cultural deprivation" of students and families rather than on the schools themselves. I suggest that the Dunbar School's pilot project bridged this divide between "blaming the victim" and "blaming schools." As practiced in such schools, compensatory education confronted both home and school factors in an effort to raise academic achievement for all urban students. In doing so, this brand of compensatory education anticipated subsequent research on the importance of the "cultural capital" that students bring from home and the quality of the teaching, curriculum, and support they receive once they arrive at school. I conclude by suggesting that, from a historical perspective, the most significant problem with compensatory education was not its emphasis on social and economic disadvantages among some students, but the fact that policy makers promised too much for it as a solution to those and other urban problems. I also suggest that this tendency is evident once again in current enthusiasm for the Knowledge Is Power Program, the Harlem Children's Zone, and other charter school movements that share some common characteristics with the compensatory programs of the 1960s. As some policy makers and pundits point to these movements as solutions for achievement gaps, racial inequality, and poverty, it is instructive to revisit both the strengths and the limitations of the compensatory education movement of the 1960s. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Unemployment; Labor Market; Metropolitan Areas; Public Policy; Educational Demand; Educational Supply; Educational Trends; Trend Analysis; Economic Change; Economic Climate; Predictor Variables; Economic Impact; Industry; Performance Factors; Urban Studies; Employment Opportunities; Comparative Analysis; Urban Problems

Abstract:
This report examines education gaps and industry demand in the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas. Metropolitan areas are a natural unit of analysis given that they offer the best approximation of a regional labor market. Moreover, the wide variation in metropolitan area economic performance, as documented by the Brookings MetroMonitor series, provides a basis for analyzing the factors that explain that variation. After explaining the methodology, the report examines in turn the contribution of education gaps and weak industry demand to levels and recent changes in metropolitan unemployment rates. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings for public policy. The 100 Largest Metropolitan Areas Sorted by Overall Rank of Education Matching and Predicted Industry Growth the Recession are appended. [Additional financial support was also provided by Metropolitan Leadership Council.] (Contains 5 figures, 5 tables and 38 endnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Economic Progress; Strategic Planning; Land Use; Population Trends; Federal Government; Urban Renewal; Government Role; Urban Areas; Housing; Economic Climate; Urban Problems; Public Policy

Abstract:
The end of World War II heralded an era of urban disinvestment in the United States. While some cities began to rebound in the 1990s with population and economic growth, others--including large cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Louis as well as many smaller cities and towns--did not, and have continued to decline. As these communities grapple with these issues, the federal government can and should play a supportive role. The Obama Administration has already taken the first steps, reflected in an August 2009 White House memorandum to federal department heads that called for a new focus on place-based strategies. This paper attempts to seize this opportunity. It looks at the challenges facing America's distressed older cities, focusing particularly on the causes and effects of widespread property vacancy and abandonment. It then examines the role and influence of federal policy on these cities over the past half century, and argues for replacing fragmented programs and initiatives with a coherent strategy that addresses their unique issues. Finally, it offers a set of specific recommendations for how the federal government can help distressed older cities reshape their physical landscape such that it becomes an asset for economic growth. Appended are: (1) Population Trends in 21 Major Shrinking Cities 1950-2007; and (2) Actions Needed to Implement Recommendations Supporting Strategic Planning. (Contains 5 tables and 98 endnotes.) [This report is authored by the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program as part of the What Works Collaborative.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Crime; Interviews; Foreign Countries; Social Capital; Adolescent Attitudes; Antisocial Behavior; Life Style; Social Experience; Social Psychology; Personal Space; Locus of Control; Urban Studies; Urban Youth; Urban Problems

Abstract:
This paper presents the results of an exploratory, small-scale qualitative research enquiry into the perceptions and experiences of young people in communities afflicted by deprivation in Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The context within which we address this focus contains a culture reputed to involve sectarianism, territoriality and gangs. Glasgow has a reputation for being a "hard place". The official crime statistics are consistent with comparatively high levels of violent crime impacting upon this culture. We adopted semi-structured interviews in order to explore young people's perspectives as well as those working with them in youth venues. Most of the data collection took place in "youth centres" close to the two stadiums of the major Scottish football clubs, namely Rangers and Celtic. Social capital theory is incorporated into the analysis of the results. The findings suggest that territoriality is the dominant parameter shaping their experience of and perceptions regarding neighbourhood areas, a conclusion endorsed by recent research about religious intermarriage. (Contains 2 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Psychologists; Social Action; Community Problems; Urban Problems

Abstract:
Urban communities, with their myriad systemic problems of poverty, social dysfunction, and diminishing public and private resources compounded by endemic health and economic disparities, provide the single psychologist practitioner with a rewarding opportunity to become involved in urban community activities and to make a positive impact. Finding common ground for discourse and action with community members can benefit both the community and the psychologist by helping them to identify, understand, and engage the community in developing solutions for community-based problems faced by residents on a daily basis. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Participatory Research; Environmental Education; Public Policy; Case Studies; Systems Approach; Environmental Research; Environmental Influences; Health Promotion; Public Health; Environmental Standards; Community Characteristics; Institutional Cooperation; Child Health; Nonprofit Organizations; Diseases; Minority Groups; Urban Environment; Secondary School Students; Pollution; Urban Problems; American Indians; Disadvantaged; Political Issues; Economic Factors; African Americans; Business; Hazardous Materials; Social Justice; Physical Environment; Community Organizations; Community Action; Rural Environment

Abstract:
Community-based participatory research (CBPR) increasingly is being used to study and address environmental justice. This article presents the results of a cross-site case study of four CBPR partnerships in the United States that researched environmental health problems and worked to educate legislators and promote relevant public policy. The authors focus on community and partnership capacity within and across sites, using as a theoretical framework Goodman and his colleagues' dimensions of community capacity, as these were tailored to environmental health by Freudenberg, and as further modified to include partnership capacity within a systems perspective. The four CBPR partnerships examined were situated in New York, California, Oklahoma, and North Carolina and were part of a larger national study. Case study contexts and characteristics, policy-related outcomes, and findings related to community and partnership capacity are presented, with implications drawn for other CBPR partnerships with a policy focus. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Urban Areas; Urban Problems; Activism; Foreign Countries; Developing Nations; Politics; Urbanization; Comparative Analysis; College Students; Governance; Models; Teaching Methods; Student Attitudes

Abstract:
This article compares American and Albanian college students' urban political experiences in order to understand the relevance of American models of urban politics to developing nations. Urban growth in Albania has created needs for teaching students about urban governance. The evidence presented here suggests that Albanians' conceptions of urban problems probably lend themselves to political activism. The challenge is to create models for teaching urban politics that are more relevant to students in developing nations. (Contains 2 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Neighborhoods; Heads of Households; Crime; Land Use; Criminology; Victims of Crime; Models; Surveys; Interviews; Predictor Variables; Attitudes; Data Analysis; Data Collection; Environmental Influences; Urban Areas; Urban Environment; Urban Problems

Abstract:
Recent studies have produced conflicting findings about the impacts of local nonresidential land uses on perceived incivilities. This study advances work in this area by developing a land-use perspective theoretically grounded in Brantingham and Brantingham's geometry of crime model in environmental criminology. That focus directs attention to specific classes of land uses and suggests relevance of land uses beyond and within respondents' neighborhoods. Extrapolating from victimization and reactions to crime, crime-generating and crime-attracting land uses are expected to increase perceived neighborhood incivilities and crime. Multilevel models using land use, crime, census, and survey data from 342 Philadelphia heads of households confirmed expected individual-level impacts. These persisted even after controlling for resident demographics and for neighborhood fabric and violent crime rates. Neighborhood status and crime were the only relevant ecological predictors, and their impacts are interpreted in light of competing perspectives on the origins of incivilities. (Contains 3 tables and 20 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Higher Education; Lobbying; Educational Facilities Improvement; Urban Planning; Urban Problems; Urban Programs; Urban Studies; Economic Impact; Planning Commissions; Program Effectiveness; Municipalities; State Regulation

Abstract:
Camden, New Jersey, a city of 80,000 located directly across the Delaware River from center-city Philadelphia, is, by any index of urban decay, one of the nation's most distressed urban centers. While severely ineffective, the city houses the essential building blocks of future recovery: branches of four colleges and universities and two major hospitals. A failure to recover during one of the strongest economic upturns in the nation's history, coupled with an unfortunate history of corruption and mismanagement, caused the state legislature to take two extraordinary actions to stabilize and revitalize the city: installing a state-appointed chief operating officer for the city, whose powers supercede those of the mayor and council, and putting forth an investment plan for the city that built upon its remaining institutional strengths in higher education and health care. A working group, the Camden Higher Education and Healthcare Task Force, was formed by the city's higher education and health care institutions at the behest of key legislators to coordinate their development efforts in order to advance the recovery of the city. (Contains 3 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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