BD+C: Why do you state that cities are “our greatest invention”?
Edward Glaeser: Cities matter because they magnify mankind’s greatest strengths. They help form the chains of collaboration and creativity that are behind everything that mankind has been able to do. Mankind’s greatest talent is the ability to learn from each other, and we learn more deeply and thoroughly when we’re face-to-face.
BD+C: You state that massive construction projects—stadiums, light rail, convention centers, etc.—cannot “stem the tidal forces of urban change.” Should mayors and city councils in declining cities just give up?
EG: I believe that there’s been a tendency to confuse cities with their structures. Cities are their people. There are places that need more structures, and they need fewer barriers to development. When you have artificial barriers, such as unrealistic height restrictions and burdensome environmental impact reports, there are tremendous costs from that. Declining areas have too many structures compared to the number of people.
The terrible thing about this strategy is that cities like Detroit need to invest in their children, so that they have the skills to survive in this economy. New sports arenas and the like are enormously expensive and distract city councils and mayors from the core business of providing a brighter future for the children of their cities through education.
BD+C: Detroit has become the poster child of the declining city. Do you have any advice for Mayor Dave Bing?
EG: If you look across the older colder-climate cities, the cities that have come back are those with the largest share of college degrees. Only 12% of Detroit adults have college degrees. I think Mayor Bing is being realistic about Detroit’s prospects. He’s a businessman. I would push him most on leveraging power of things like charter schools, and on top of that, fighting back against some of the regulations that still make it difficult to do business in the city. I was there recently, and there was a woman who was trying to start a business, a food truck, and she couldn’t get a permit because of regulations.
BD+C: “Poverty is usually a sign of a city’s success,” you write.
EG: The key point is that, throughout much of the world, cities attract poor people with the promise of jobs, cheap transportation, relatively affordable housing, and social services. That’s something cities shouldn’t be ashamed of.
BD+C: You advocate reducing the home mortgage interest deduction, which you cleverly call “a sacred cow in need of a good stockyard.” Aren’t you swimming in shark-infested waters here?
EG: It’s the job of an academic to do that. But there are two signs that this is being considered. The Administration’s federal housing finance reform package came out with a clear message that we should not be encouraging everyone to become a homeowner; and in the President’s budget, he sees a restriction on the amount of deductions you could take. The plan I like is to lower the upper limit of $1 million by $100,000 a year over several years.
BD+C: You comment on policies for “aesthetic interventions,” as espoused by the urbanist Richard Florida, versus “urban basics,” like public safety and good schools. Could you expand on that?
EG: Good public art is good, if it’s cheap. But you can’t tell a mayor that you really should have a public arts program, rather than getting the schools in order and having a well-functioning police department. The arts can’t be seen as something that’s going to trump the basics.
Take the case of Bilbao. That museum certainly generated a lot of tourism, but how many jobs were created? Bilbao is the one such project that hit the jackpot. How many others were subsidized, as in Sheffield, England, where the National Centre for Popular Music closed the year it opened. These projects come and go, with massive subsidies, and you have to be wary of them.
BD+C: What about the balkanization of our school districts? Should school funding be more equalized, no matter where the child lives?
EG: This is obviously a huge issue. The most helpful things we have seen so far have been the charter schools. Being an economist, I think competition among schools is the best way to keep upwardly mobile families staying in the city. The great urban virtues are competition and entrepreneurship, and that’s what we’ve not done with our public schools, which are large public monopolies. And because cities do attract poor people, for many reasons, it shows how hard it is to move that dial, even when, as in Chicago and New York and Washington, D.C., you have some of the best people working on the problem.
BD+C: You also state that immigration is “essential to urban success.” That’s hardly a popular sentiment in many parts of the U.S.
EG: Immigration is absolutely essential to the success of our cities. The case is easiest to make for H-1B visas, where we get skilled workers who are going to add energy to the economy, pay more in taxes than they’re going to take out, and who are not going to cause social problems. We should be enabling more people who are skilled and want nothing more than to work in America. Cities are good for immigrants and immigrants are good for cities. BD+C
Related Stories
| Nov 21, 2014
Nelson adds to its stable with EHS Design acquisition
This represents Nelson’s fifth merger or acquisition in 2014, during which the firm’s net fee revenue has increased by 60% to $65 million.
| Nov 21, 2014
Nonresidential Construction Index rises in fourth quarter
There are a number of reasons for optimism among respondents of FMI's quarterly Nonresidential Construction Index survey, including healthier backlogs and low inflation.
| Nov 21, 2014
NCARB: Number of architects in U.S. grows 1.6% in 2014, surpasses 107,500
The architecture profession continues to grow along with a gradually recovering economy, based on the results of the 2014 Survey of Architectural Registration Boards, conducted by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.
| Nov 20, 2014
Lean Led Design: How Building Teams can cut costs, reduce waste in healthcare construction projects
Healthcare organizations are under extreme pressure to reduce costs, writes CBRE Healthcare's Lora Schwartz. Tools like Lean Led Design are helping them cope.
| Nov 19, 2014
The evolution of airport design and construction [infographic]
Safety, consumer demand, and the new economics of flight are three of the major factors shaping how airlines and airport officials are approaching the need for upgrades and renovations, writes Skanska USA's MacAdam Glinn.
| Nov 19, 2014
Construction unemployment hits eight-year low, some states struggle to find qualified labor
The construction industry, whose workforce was decimated during the last recession, is slowly getting back on its feet. However, in certain markets—especially those where oil drilling and production have been prospering—construction workers can still be scarce.
Sponsored | | Nov 19, 2014
3 technology trends on the horizon
As technology continues to evolve exponentially, construction firms have ongoing opportunities to enhance the quality, speed, and efficiency of building projects and processes. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Nov 19, 2014
Long-life coatings vs. long-life screws
Are you concerned with the long-life protection of your metal building project? SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Nov 19, 2014
Fire resistive, blast-resistant glazing: Where security, safety, and transparency converge
Security, safety and transparency don’t have to be mutually exclusive thanks to new glazing technology designed to support blast and fire-resistant secure buildings. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Nov 19, 2014
Must see: Arup, Damian Rogers propose urban surf park in Melbourne
The surfing pool would offer 98-foot-wide waves that would run the length of the 500-foot-long enclave.