Group items tagged

Bontje, M. (2004). "Facing the challenge of shrinking cities in East Germany: The case of Leipzig." GeoJournal. 61, 13-21. Abstract: "In the early 20th century, the East German city of Leipzig seemed well on its way to become a metropolis of international importance. The city was expected to grow towards over one million inhabitants in 2000. Seventy years later, Leipzig's population has shrunk to less than 500,000 inhabitants instead. The German partition after World War II took away most of its national administrative and economic functions and much of its hinterland. The socialist GDR regime worsened the long-term development perspectives and living circumstances of the city. The German reunification brought new development chances, but like most East German cities, Leipzig's hopes soon became disappointed. The local politicians faced a difficult redevelopment task: apart from the question how to revive the local and regional economy, they also had to deal with a housing vacancy rate of 20%, a huge need for renovation in the older neighbourhoods as well as in the socialist high-rise areas, the negative effects of urban sprawl on the city core, and various environmental pollution problems. After briefly describing the development path of Leipzig until the 1990s, the paper will discuss the current attempts of the city government to give Leipzig a more positive post-industrial future. On the one hand, Leipzig is developing a strategy to 'downsize' the city's built environment and infrastructure to adapt to a probably lastingly smaller population. On the other hand, many growth instruments well known from the international scientific and political debate are tried to put Leipzig back on the (inter)national map. The paper will discuss these development strategies in the light of the international debate on the question 'how to fight the shrinking city', with specific attention for post-socialist cities."

Virginia Local Initiatives Support Cooperation, "The Ripple Effect: Economic Impacts of Targeted Community Investments." Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. (2005) http://go.clientapp.com/vacantproperties/production/resources/ppts/Ripple%20Effect.pdf Abstract: "This publication illustrates how to create neighborhoods of choice and opportunity, when resources are limited and maximum results are desired. It summarizes the results of a Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond study, examining the Neighborhoods in Bloom program in Richmond. Only five years after the program was initiated, the study reports some significant economic impacts of the policy, including increased home values. By targeting public and foundation resources to specific distressed neighborhoods, Richmond was able to attract the much-needed market capital. This targeted strategy premised on process, political will, and partnerships, enabled Richmond to transform some of its most disinvested neighborhoods."

Been , Vicki and Voicu, Ioan, "The Effect of Community Gardens on Neighboring Property Values" (2006). New York University Law and Economics Working Papers. Paper 46. http://lsr.nellco.org/nyu_lewp/46 DRAFT PAPER - PLEASE DO NOT CITE WITHOUT PERMISSION Abstract: "Cities across the United States increasingly are debating the best way to use vacant "infill" lots. The community garden movement is one of the major contenders for the space, as are advocates for small public "pocket" parks and other green spaces. To allocate the land most efficiently and fairly, local governments need sound research about the value of such gardens and parks to their host communities. At the same time, cities are looking for new ways of financing the development and maintenance of public garden and park space. Some have turned to tax increment financing to generate resources, other are introducing impact fees or special assessments to cover the costs of urban parks. In order to employ such financing mechanisms, both policy concerns and legal constraints require local governments to base their charges on sound data about the impacts green spaces have on the value of the neighboring properties that would be forced to bear the incidence of the tax or fee. Despite the clear public policy need for such data, our knowledge about the impacts community gardens and other such spaces have on surrounding neighborhoods is quite limited. No studies have focused specifically on community gardens, and those that have examined the property value impacts of parks and other open space are cross-sectional studies inattentive to when the park opened, so that it is impossible to determine the direction of the causality of any property value differences found. The existing literature also has paid insufficient attention to qualitative differences among the parks studied and to differences in characteristics of the surrounding neighborhoods that might affect the parks' impacts