Business Improvement Districts

The "livable city," the "creative city," and more recently the "pop-up city" have become pervasive monikers that identify a new type of urbanism that has sprung up globally, produced and managed by the business improvement district and known colloquially by its acronym, BID. With this case study, Susanna F. Schaller draws on more than fifteen years of research to present a direct, focused engagement with both the planning history that shaped Washington, D.C.'s landscape and the intricacies of everyday life, politics, and planning practice as they relate to BIDs. Schaller offers a critical unpacking of the BID ethos, which draws on the language of economic liberalism (individual choice, civic engagement, localism, and grassroots development), to portray itself as color blind, democratic, and equitable. Schaller reveals the contradictions embedded in the BID model. For the last thirty years, BID advocates have engaged in effective and persuasive storytelling; as a result, many policy makers and planners perpetuate the BID narrative without examining the institution and the inequities it has wrought. Schaller sheds light on these oversights, thus fostering a critical discussion of BIDs and their collective influence on future urban landscapes.

This comprehensive book covers the theory and practice of Business Improvement Districts or BIDs - partnerships between local communities and governments established to revitalize neighborhoods and catalyze economic development in a region. In this book, author Seth Grossman demonstrates the ways in which BIDs work, pull stakeholders together, and acquire funds to manage the difficult process of community revitalization especially in urbanized, threatened town centers. BIDs also blur traditional lines between public and private organizations, and their governance raises critical new questions about democratic representation, accountability, transparency, and responsiveness. As this book illustrates, BID managers act as public entrepreneurs, and management in the public realm requires community development skills (community planning, organization and leadership) and economic expertise (jobs, business development, housing and public infrastructure). Through an in-depth examination of Business Improvement Districts and their managers we begin to see that the future of public administration might no longer be contained behind the walls of formal government, with an increasing number of public administrators defining and creating public solutions to real life commercial problems. This book is essential reading for all practicing urban and regional administrators and government officials, as well as students studying public administration, public management, and urban and regional politics.

"Learn how BIDs work, how they have evolved, and why they have been succesful at increasing property values and improving economic conditions, both downtown and in suburban business districts"--Book jacket.

Initiated and governed by property or business owners under the authorization of state and local governments, business improvement districts (BIDs) have received a very mixed reception. To some, they are innovative examples of self-governance and public-private partnerships; to others, they are yet another example of the movement toward the privatization of what should be inherent government responsibilities. Among the first books to present a collection of scholarly work on the subject, Business Improvement Districts: Research, Theories, and Controversies brings together renowned leaders in the field to compile the highest-quality theoretical, legal, and empirical studies into one comprehensive volume. Investigating fundamental concerns at the core of the debate, as well as potential solutions, this groundbreaking resource: Tackles the need for improved problem solving and efficiency in service delivery Examines new and innovative policy tools for both the public and private sectors Evaluates whether BIDs do ignore the needs and voices of residential property owners Discusses the challenge created by social segregation in cities Addresses lack of accountability by BIDs to the public and elected representatives From different perspectives, leading practitioners and academics analyze the pros and cons of BIDs both in the United States and around the world. They look at their impact on urban planning and retail revitalization, consider their legal implications, and explore ways to measure BID performance. Filled with case studies of urban centers including San Diego, Atlanta, New York, Toronto, and Capetown, and state models such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, this examination bring together essential information for researchers as well as those leaders and policy makers looking to adopt a BID model or improve one already in place.

In today's world, towns and cities dynamically develop over time and that's why urban regeneration is a widely experienced phenomenon. How can Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) create necessary conditions for the development of these phenomena? What is the role that BIDs have in entrepreneurial urbanism, supporting SMEs, city marketing and city branding? These are questions examined in this volume, in an effort to provide an extensive analysis of business improvement districts. Enriched with an analysis of various case studies, including South Africa, Ontario, Tokyo, Barcelona, Slovenia and with an in-field analysis of a cultural heritage site, Korca, Albania, the book analyses the importance, benefits, and impacts of this kind of organization. It highlights the social, economic and ecologic challenges to the historic city markets today, which led to their rapid stagnancy. This book offers a practical and structured guide of the concept of Business Improvement Districts and highlights the best practices for management, financing and organizing. It sheds light on the impacts and benefits of business improvement districts, offering conclusions about their influence on the future improvement of cultural and urban sites. It will be of value to researchers, academics, professionals, and students in the fields of management, organizational studies, strategy, and sustainable development of tourism districts.

This book rethinks the city by examining its various forms of collectivity – their atmospheres, modes of exclusion and self-organization, as well as how they are governed – on the basis of a critical discussion of the notion of urban commons. The idea of the commons has received surprisingly little attention in urban theory, although the city may well be conceived as a shared resource. Urban Commons: Rethinking the City offers an attempt to reconsider what a city might be by studying how the notion of the commons opens up new understandings of urban collectivities, addressing a range of questions about urban diversity, urban governance, urban belonging, urban sexuality, urban subcultures, and urban poverty; but also by discussing in more methodological terms how one might study the urban commons. In these respects, the rethinking of the city undertaken in this book has a critical dimension, as the notion of the commons delivers new insights about how collective urban life is formed and governed.