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
Market Data | Jul 24, 2023
Leading economists call for 2% increase in building construction spending in 2024
Following a 19.7% surge in spending for commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings in 2023, leading construction industry economists expect spending growth to come back to earth in 2024, according to the July 2023 AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel.
Hotel Facilities | Jul 21, 2023
In Phoenix, a former motel transforms into a boutique hotel with a midcentury vibe
The Egyptian Motor Hotel’s 48 guest rooms come with midcentury furnishings ranging from egg chairs to Bluetooth speakers that look like Marshall amplifiers.
Office Buildings | Jul 20, 2023
The co-worker as the new office amenity
Incentivizing, rather than mandating the return to the office, is the key to bringing back happy employees that want to work from the office. Spaces that are designed and curated for human-centric experiences will attract employees back into the workplace, and in turn, make office buildings thrive once again. Perkins&Will’s Wyatt Frantom offers a macro to micro view of the office market and the impact of employees on the future of work.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 19, 2023
World’s first prefab operating room with fully automated disinfection technology opens in New York
The first prefabricated operating room in the world with fully automated disinfection technology opened recently at the University of Rochester Medicine Orthopedics Surgery Center in Henrietta, N.Y. The facility, developed in a former Sears store, features a system designed by Synergy Med, called Clean Cube, that had never been applied to an operating space before. The components of the Clean Cube operating room were custom premanufactured and then shipped to the site to be assembled.
Performing Arts Centers | Jul 18, 2023
Perelman Performing Arts Center will soon open at Ground Zero
In September, New York City will open a new performing arts center in Lower Manhattan, two decades after the master plan for Ground Zero called for a cultural component there. At a cost of $500 million, including $130 million donated by former mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the Perelman Performing Arts Center (dubbed PAC NYC) is a 138-foot-tall cube-shaped building that glows at night.
Codes and Standards | Jul 17, 2023
Outdated federal rainfall analysis impacting infrastructure projects, flood insurance
Severe rainstorms, sometimes described as “atmospheric rivers” or “torrential thunderstorms,” are making the concept of a “1-in-100-year flood event” obsolete, according to a report from First Street Foundation, an organization focused on weather risk research.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 13, 2023
Walkable neighborhoods encourage stronger sense of community
Adults who live in walkable neighborhoods are more likely to interact with their neighbors and have a stronger sense of community than people who live in car-dependent communities, according to a report by the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego.
Sustainability | Jul 13, 2023
Deep green retrofits: Updating old buildings to new sustainability standards
HOK’s David Weatherhead and Atenor’s Eoin Conroy discuss the challenges and opportunities of refurbishing old buildings to meet modern-day sustainability standards.
Contractors | Jul 13, 2023
Construction input prices remain unchanged in June, inflation slowing
Construction input prices remained unchanged in June compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices were also unchanged for the month.
Government Buildings | Jul 13, 2023
The recently opened U.S. Embassy in Ankara reflects U.S. values while honoring Turkish architecture
The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) has recently opened the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. The design by Ennead Architects aims to balance transparency and openness with security, according to a press statement. The design also seeks both to honor Turkey’s architectural traditions and to meet OBO’s goals of sustainability, resiliency, and stewardship.