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This is Developmental Economics lecture notes. Key points for the lecture are: Economic Development Theories, Economic Units, Geography of Economic Development, National Economic Development, Massachusetts Metropolitan Area, Map of Labor Market Areas, Census Map, Largest Sectors, Major Economic Theories, Economic Base Theory
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Springfield Studio
Economic Development Theories: Neighborhoods as Economic Units
Overview To provide a theoretical foundation for our work, this class will review literature on regions as economic units, the relationship between regional and neighborhood economic development and theories that seek to explain why and how economies develop.
Introduction This class should be more of a discussion/exploration than a full lecture. The issue of what is regional economic development is and what are the forces that drive it is a huge subject. We are not going to do the issue justice here, but it is valuable to think about some of these theories and how they might be helpful to us as we try to understand what it means to do neighborhood economic development. It is also important to think about how these ideas might help us accomplish some of the goals in Springfield more specifically. One of the advantages we are bringing to the neighborhood through this course is the opportunity to consider more theoretical content. They have good ideas that are rooted to the neighborhood context and a theoretical perspective can help them develop those thoughts. We want to get to the core ideas of these theories and think about what they imply about economic development strategies. Ultimately we will come back to these issues again.
Slides I. Geography of Economic Development (Larry Ledebur’s book The New Regional Economies ) a. The book is a polemic against national economic development policy. b. Current economists’ thinking is that metropolitan areas are the primary basis for economic regions. i. 95% of economic activity is organized around metropolitan areas, typically around a central city (though its role is getting smaller). ii. Looking at economic performance, metropolitan areas differ, i.e. they are distinct economic units. iii. Whatever we do in the North End, Springfield is in the context of this metropolitan economy. II. Springfield, MA Economic Geography a. Massachusetts Metropolitan Area Map i. Map of metro areas in MA.
ii. Different federal bureaucracies define them differently. This once comes out of NECMA. iii. The Springfield Metro Area is geographically the second- largest in the state. iv. Springfield is the central city of a large metropolitan area that extends far. b. Map of Labor Market Areas i. Focused on commuting patterns, primary metropolitan areas where residents get jobs. ii. Almost the entire state is broken into labor market areas. iii. The Springfield metropolitan area and labor market areas are pretty much the same. c. Census Map i. Springfield is at the southern end of the region. ii. The Connecticut River Valley is the defining geographic feature of area.
a. Develop a specialized workforce b. Exchange of knowledge among workers, owners, l c. Local institutions develop to support the industry iii. Benefiting from base industries:
ii. Raises 2 issues:
ii. Are you on a growth path?
a. Much of what is going on in Springfield is regional tourism rather than a regional center destination. b. The health center is the biggest anchor.