Equality and Closure: The Paradox of Local Citizenship

In Bourgeois Utopias, a cultural history of suburbia in America, Robert Fishman states the fundamental paradox about the suburbs: “[H]ow can a form based on the principle of exclusion include every-one?” The promise of the American suburb was that every middle-class family would be able to own a home with a yard, but this egalitarian ideal was illusory because what made the suburbs appealing was precisely what it excluded, namely everything having to do with the city—its congestion, political corruption, and most importantly, its racial diversity. And so, as suburbia was mass-produced and made avail-able with cheap low-interest loans to white middle-class families, racial minorities were rigidly excluded. Although several waves of demographic change have reshaped the suburbs over the generations, this paradox remains evident today. Suburbs are becoming more dense and more diverse as many minorities have migrated from “inner cities” toward first-ring suburbs, and immigrants have found welcoming enclaves in the suburbs. But while suburbs have grown more diverse, they have also grown more segregated. High opportunity suburbs with plentiful jobs and good schools mandate low-density sprawl through zoning regulations, like mini-mum lot size and floor area requirements, parking mandates, and set-backs, that have the cumulative effect of making housing scarce and expensive. Only the very affluent or those lucky enough to have purchased a home years ago are welcome in these places. Racial minorities who, thanks to the earlier generation of suburban exclusion, have not had the opportunity to build the inter-generational wealth that is often a prerequisite to purchasing a home in the suburbs still find themselves locked out of the most desirable communities. The infra-structure of suburban communities, such as roads, sewers, and schools, are designed, perhaps deliberately, to completely collapse if the number of users increases by even a small amount, so these communities fiercely oppose any efforts to densify and permit more housing. Even modest attempts at densification are treated as calls to destroy suburban neighborhoods. But because our society has made a decision, undoubtedly questionable in retrospect, to treat suburban homeownership as the central tool for wealth building in this country, we cannot hope to meet our national aspirations for equality without opening up our suburbs to more housing. And so the question re-mains—how can a form based on the principle of exclusion include everyone?

Proceedings From the Conference on the Impact of Housing Affordability on Economic Development and Regional Labor Markets

Housing affordability is an important component of economic development. It affects several levers for regional growth, including business formation, through wealth building and influencing entrepreneurship. Housing affordability also affects location decisions—of both labor and employers. These proceedings document findings from research presented at a conference titled “The Impact of Housing Affordability on Economic Development and Regional Labor Markets” sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. The analysis presented at the conference suggests that higher-cost housing can trigger productive workers to leave markets and may limit the ability of workers, especially African American workers, to enter the labor market. At the same time, large economic development projects can displace workers. Research suggests that land use regulation is a driver of housing affordability; typically, higher levels of regulation lead to higher costs. Also, the efforts of economic developers affect local policies, like regulation and zoning, to attract firms. Discussion at the conference suggested housing issues be more integral to economic development policy and that new and expanded measures of housing affordability be used to track affordability.

Employee Ownership: Structuring Opportunities for Racial Wealth Building and Family Well-Being

Policies and practices of the 19th and 20th centuries have had a lasting impact into this century. This is most evident when examining racialized wealth inequality between Black and White families. This study of low-income employee owners examines the following questions: (1) Does employee ownership reduce the racial wealth gap? (2) How does employee ownership reduce the racial wealth gap, and (3) To what effect does employee ownership reduce the racial wealth gap? Findings indicate employee ownership impacts wealth building, advancement opportunities, and family economic security among Black employees and other marginalized populations. Policy and practice implications to advance employee ownership to address racial wealth inequality are highlighted.

Tough-on-Crime for You, Serve-and-Protect for Me

This chapter discusses the United States' support for the highly aggressive enforcement of extremely broad criminal laws in the country. It seeks to understand the primary mechanism that has been used to turn the often-violent suppression and caging of human beings into a wealth-building opportunity, and focuses on the impact that the criminalization trap has had on US citizens. The chapter also explores how media and “public education” efforts shift and distort people's perception of crime in significant ways. It analyses the process of criminalization and how the media tend to direct the public gaze toward Black and Brown communities. It then highlights the United States' attention on criminal justice efforts within Back and Brown communities, and how the police's militant boots-on-the-ground strategy, enforcement discretion, and hyperaggressive policing tactics impacted communities of color. Ultimately, the chapter presents some examples of the many ways in which the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in the United States benefit from the mass criminalization and incarceration system.

Local regeneration and community wealth building–place making: co-operatives as agents of change

Purpose This paper aims to provide an introduction to how worker co-operatives and other organisations based on principles of the participatory economy have been adopted in a range of international contexts as a vehicle for transforming places with a strong aspiration to address location-specific social challenges. Design/methodology/approach Through a presentation of four narrative cases, the paper exemplifies international experiences of co-operative approaches to place-making. It critically reflects on the philosophical and strategic underpinnings of the projects implemented in Rochdale, Preston, Bologna, Rome and Cincinnati. Findings The practical experiences of a number of local projects of place-making involving co-operatives are conceptualised. The research has identified the importance of institutional, organisational and legal constraints for transformative cooperative-based place-making initiatives. It shows a strong relevance of the place’s historic legacy and communal governance for the choice of place-making approaches. Research limitations/implications Further investigation is needed to establish whether co-operatives have the same driving force potential in terms of local regeneration and community wealth building place-making in non-Western contexts and less developed locations. Practical implications The paper highlights cases that incorporate place-making practices involving the co-operative organisation and municipal participation and considers their transferability potential. Originality/value The paper advances an important conversation relevant to researchers, educators, co-operators, politicians and local officials on diverse contemporary approaches in towns and cities that seek to reshape and regenerate local socio-economic fabric by engaging tradition, principles and organisation models developed within the co-operative movement.

Book Reviews

পাশ্চাত্যের মুসলিম ও ইসলামের ভবিষ্যৎ কন্যা সন্তানের উত্তরাধিকার: একটি সার্বিক পর্যালোচনা- ২ Islam and Gender Bangladesh Perspective Inviting to Islam: Ethics of Engagement Five Pillars of Prosperity: Essential of Faith-Based Wealth Building Muhammad the Messenger of Allah

Review: The case for Community Wealth Building by Joe Guinan and Martin O’Neill

Drawing on innovative local government and community initiatives from the United Kingdom and the United States, Guinan and O’Neill’s 'The Case for Community Wealth Building' is a timely and optimistically critical contribution to discussions on inclusive community-owned local economic development. This short thesis aimed at practitioners, policy-makers and theorists alike, looks at alternative models of local economic ownership. At just 116 pages, this accessible book, whilst drawing on a good if limited range of academic and case study literature, reads more in the tradition of a radical political pamphlet than a dense academic text.

From upstart city to ‘ghost’ city: informal housing finance in Ordos, China

This paper applies the perspective of informality to examine the nexus between informal housing finance and housing markets in China. The study explores the causes, formation, influences and consequences of informal housing financing mechanisms in Ordos. It argues that informal housing finance contributes to the local property market boom and becomes an instrument of wealth building through homeownership, but classifies and reinforces social classes based on their gains from the property market. The study discusses the possibilities of institutionalizing informal housing finance and diversifying economic structures, with special consideration of resource-based frontier cities.