Dissertation•
Business Improvement Areas and the Justification of Urban Revitalization: Using the Pragmatic Sociology of Critique to Understand Neoliberal Urban Governance
01 Sep 2019-
About: The article was published on 2019-09-01 and is currently open access. It has received None citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Urban sociology & Social order.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that open-street closed-circuit television surveillance is generated from numerous and overlapping social positions and that power moves through populations, and thus citizens' groups have the power to contest regulatory measures in their communities.
Abstract: Rather than relying on an undifferentiated version of Michel Foucault's panopticon or conceptualizing surveillance as a straightforward top-down measure, this article contends that open-street closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance is generated from numerous and overlapping social positions. As a regulatory project within the overarching context of governance, open-street CCTV can be generated from above, from the middle, or from below. By "above," what is meant is some hierarchical political or administrative body. Business entrepreneurs constitute the "middle." By "from below," I mean that citizens themselves seek out regulatory measures for their own communities through moral entrepreneurship, often in collusion with local news media. But the inverse is also true: power moves through populations, and thus citizens' groups have the power to contest regulatory measures in their communities. I substantiate these theoretical claims with media, questionnaire, and interview data regarding the prolifer...
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, Laam Hae provides a detailed and nuanced analysis of several decades of struggles among New York City politicians, residents, municipal agencies, lawyers, and other professionals.
Abstract: In this interesting and valuable book, Laam Hae provides a detailed and nuanced analysis of several decades of struggles among New York City politicians, residents, municipal agencies, lawyers, dan...
21 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether BIDs provide tangible benefits beyond their immediate boundaries to local residents in the form of reduced violence among adolescents, and found no effect of BIDs on violence.
Abstract: The business improvement district (BID) is a popular economic development and urban revitalization model in which local property and business owners must pay an assessment tax that funds supplementary services, including private security. BIDs constitute a controversial form of urban revitalization to some because they privatize economic development and public safety efforts in public space. This study examines whether BIDs provide tangible benefits beyond their immediate boundaries to local residents in the form of reduced violence among adolescents. The empirical analysis advances an existing literature dominated by evaluation studies by introducing a theoretically driven dataset with rich information on individual and neighborhood level variables. The analysis compares violent victimization among youths living in BID neighborhoods with those in similarly situated non-BID neighborhoods. We find no effect of BIDs on violence. However, we do find that youth violence is strongly correlated with neighborhood collective efficacy and family-related attributes of social control. In conclusion, we argue that BIDs may be an agent of crime reduction, but this benefit is likely concentrated only in their immediate boundaries and does not extend to youths living in surrounding neighborhoods.(ProQuest: ... denotes formula omitted.)Community economic development models have garnered substantial public and scholarly attention in recent decades as a promising strategy for addressing urban problems. In many cases, community-based organizations take the place of governmentally funded programs in promoting housing, employment, or business opportunities aimed at enhancing the quality of life for residents (Simon 2001). The business improvement district (BID) is perhaps the most popular iteration of this form of urban revitalization approach (Briffault 1999). BIDs have grown in the United States from around 400 in 1999 (Mitchell 2001) to close to 1,000 today. BIDs typically assess a tax on local business and property owners to fund supplementary neighborhood services including security, sanitation, place marketing, and urban planning (Mitchell 2001). Some BIDs also offer a wider range of services, including homeless outreach, employment programs, and school-based youth activities (Stokes 2002).The popularity of the BID movement derives, at least partially, from the widespread belief that BIDs are efficient (Pack 1992) and even "more effective than government" at solving major urban problems, including crime, economic stagnation, and physical disorder. Several media outlets, including the New York Times, have reported that BIDs are the "engine" of urban renaissance (Mitchell 2001). Scholars have identified a number of key features that render BIDs particularly desirable, including their independence from local government, and their ability to solve the free rider problem, which has plagued other private revitalization efforts.However, the BID model is one of the more "controversial recent developments in urban governance" (Briffault 1999: 366) because it raises a number of serious problems for residents of the local community (Briffault 1999; Garodnick 2000; Hochleutner 2003; Hoyt 2004; Pack 1992). Thoughtful critics argue, for example, that BIDs threaten local democracy and political accountability (Garodnick 2000; Lewis 2010), and perpetuate inequality through the differential delivery of services traditionally provided by public agencies (Kessler v. Grand Central Dist. 1998; Stark 1998). Critics further allege that some BIDs have excluded and even exploited the poor and homeless. In one controversial case, the Grand Central Partnership in New York was accused of hiring "goon squads" to use physical force to push the homeless out of the geographic boundaries of the BID. A federal judge subsequently found that the same partnership had violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by paying homeless and jobless persons to perform clerical and outreach work far below minimum wage (Briffault 1999). …
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that relatively easier state enabled collective action positively impacts the creation of business improvement districts, the limited effects of tax expenditure limitations on the formation of BIDs and the positive impacts that new development has on the number of BID per state.
Abstract: An institution that has shown great promise in addressing the revitalization of declining central cities is Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). These private governments provide supplemental municipal services such as sanitation, security, and marketing to independent businesses in underserved commercial areas. By 1999, 44 U.S. states had legislation that enables and dictates the formation process and structure of BIDs. The surprising element of this legislation is the wide variation in approval needed to form a BID over a proposed geographical area. Some states require as little as 20 percent approval of proposed members and others as much as 75 percent approval to allow formation of a BID. This variation in state statutes likely influences the use of BIDs. Results highlight that relatively easier state enabled collective action positively impacts the creation of BIDs, the limited effects of tax expenditure limitations on the formation of BIDs and the positive impacts that new development has on the number of BIDs per state.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that land value capture policies involve the process of giving back to get ahead; through acts of gift-giving developers enhance their symbolic capital, or reputational prestige, leading to new opportunities for profit-making.
19 citations