Planning for Local Economic Development: Research into Policymaking and Practice

This thematic issue of Urban Planning brings together a collection of seven articles that explore and critically engage with contemporary issues with local economic development and connect with the broader fields of urban development and planning. The articles presented here provide a complementary mix of broader conceptualizations and research and narrower case-studies which draw from a range of geographies. Contributions include the development and application of a vulnerability and risk measures for economic prosperity; examinations of how urban planning and zoning are used as tools to address industrial decline and spur new forms of economic production; complementing investigations into the role of innovation within local economic development examining the role of public and private institutions as well as broad and targeted policy interventions; and the relationship between ‘big-tech,’ economic development and urban planning and governance

Promoting Adaptive Reuse in Ontario: A Planning Policy Tool for Making the Best of Manufacturing Decline

The exodus of manufacturing jobs from industrialized cities has increasingly altered the way municipalities plan and cope with buildings and areas that once served as industrial and economic centres. Now these often derelict and costly structures sit as an eyesore in many communities which experience symptoms of post-industrialism. The practice of adaptive reuse is a unique concept of city building, where demolition and traditional brownfield redevelopment have been common practice. Though an already established method, adaptive reuse is becoming increasingly popular due to a greater intensity to protect heritage, reuse materials and structures, and offer unique architectural spaces, there has been a demand to reuse former industrial buildings for other uses such as commercial and recreational spaces. To achieve this, there must be sufficient policy in place to incentivize and mitigate the increase cost and risk which are usually associated with this type of development. This article will focus specifically on Ontario, Canada, and the current Official Plans of all 51 of the province’s cities, and how they are addressing adaptive reuse in former industrial areas and unique ways in which they address this problem. A content analysis of the documents showed that there is a wide difference in reuse contextualization and suggested policy directives. However, Cities in Ontario have proposed that affordable housing, intensification, revitalization in the urban core, and creating spaces for creative and vibrant industries can be addressed by the promotion of reuse in the community. For those with strong industrial history, the applicability of reuse allows for communities to preserve their industrial heritage, while at the same time shift uses to the new economy

The health of the poor: Women living in informal settlements

Objectives: A large share of the urban population in developing countries lives in informal settlements or “slums” today. This study investigates the association between slum residence and health among adult Ghanaian women residing in the Accra Metropolitan Area.Methods: Health data collected as part of the Women’s Health Study of Accra round II (WHSA-II) was combined with data from the Household and Welfare Study of Accra (HAWS) to compare the health of female slum dwellers to the health of female non-slum dwellers living in the Accra Metropolitan Area. Group means were calculated and multivariate linear regression models were estimated to compare eight domains ofhealth as measured by the short-form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire.Results: Women living in informal settlements were found to display consistently better health. Conditional on all observable characteristics, women living in informal settlements scored higher on all self-reportedhealth outcomes than women living in non-slum areas. The differences appear largest for general health as well as for the physical role functioning domains, and appear smallest for the social role functioning and bodily pain domains.Conclusions: The results presented suggest that slum residence does not have a negative effect on self-reported health among women in Accra. Three factors may contribute to the generally positive association betweenslum residence and observed outcomes: i) selfselection of individuals with strong health into informal settlements and an accordingly small impact ofenvironmental factors on health ii) self-selection of more driven and ambitious individuals into slum neighborhoods who may have a generally more positive view of their health and iii) the geographic placement ofslum neighborhoods in central neighborhoods with relatively easy access to health facilities

Innovation within the Context of Local Economic Development and Planning: Perspectives of City Practitioners

Although innovation is a major theme in current local economic development and planning, there is a considerable uncertainty of what the concept specifically means, measured, and how outcomes are identified. To date, no study has investigated this glaring gap in scholarship. To address this gap, we interviewed economic development practitioners across cities in Ontario to identify and clarify how they define, apply, and measure innovation within their cities’ economic development strategies. Practitioners indicate that innovation plays a key role in their cities’ economic development strategy, demonstrating the importance of the concept within local governments. Additionally, it is clear that local governments are key facilitators of innovation. While many cities claim to have some form of innovation in their economic development strategies, a wide range of framings and approaches to innovation exist. Cities may not be taking the most efficient approach to fostering local innovation, which is critical with the rise of knowledge-based economic development

Just Because You Could, Doesn’t Mean You Should: Exploring if (and When) Cities Should Brand Through a Case Study of The City of London, Ontario

Cities in Canada and abroad are engaging in place branding initiatives without any true understanding of whether they are likely to succeed. A key reason for this uncertainty is that there is a lack of understanding of what local conditions are needed to ensure the best chance for success. This study addresses this uncertainty in two ways: first, a theoretical framework is developed to identify local characteristics and conditions that are requisite for place branding; and second, the City of London, Ontario is used as a case study to examine whether small and midsized cities should be branding. Based on an extensive review of the literature domain a framework of seven criteria was developed: is there a need? Is there something to be branded? Is there local capacity and knowledge? Is it part of strategic planning? Is there leadership? Is there coordination? And is the process inclusive? Based on interviews with sixteen key stakeholders in London (both local officials and community stakeholders), it is clear that the city meets very few of these criteria. This suggests that London – and likely most other small and midsized cities in Canada and abroad need to be measured in their approaches to place branding

Localising the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa: implementation challenges and opportunities

At the point of adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Africa’s starting point on almost all dimensions of development was much lower than that of other regions of the world. Thus, SDG progress on the continent determines to a large extent whether the global SDG commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ remains rhetoric or becomes reality. Local government action is critical to the achievement of the SDGs, as most services provided at the local level have a direct impact on SDG indicators. This paper reflects on the first quadrennial review cycle of the SDGs, and highlights challenges encountered in localising the SDGs in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the ongoing strategising for the remaining timeline of the SDGs and analyses the opportunities for local governments to contribute to SDG implementation. The paper also seeks to inform policy action to strengthen local capacity to drive the SDGs agenda in the ‘Decade of Action’ (2020–2030)

Infill Planner: A geo-questionnaire to gather public input on infill developments

Urban infill and intensification planning strategies aim to lead toward more efficient use urban land and ultimately urban forms that more sustainable and offer citizens improved quality of life. Due to the potential impacts of introducing change into established neighborhoods, the implementation of these planning strategies is not straightforward. Urban infill strategies often elicit public reactions, either positively or negatively, which ultimately influence the successes or failures of infill projects. Local knowledge and public input must therefore be considered during these planning processes. Map-based tools are increasingly being adopted to solicit public input in urban planning. However, the varying designs and implementation of these tools outpaces planning research. A research gap relating to what works, how and in which context therefore exists. This thesis seeks to understand how the public considers both site (i.e., property) and situation (i.e., neighborhood) factors when considering potential infill developments. Infill Planner, a web-based tool that combines interactive maps and questionnaires, was developed to allow participants to designate future land uses for potential infill development sites. The tool was tested in a simulated urban infill planning process for selected sites in the City of Stratford, Ontario. Despite the simulated nature of the planning exercise, the research contributes to our understanding of how individuals use map-based data and tools when considering the site-specific and neighbourhood level implications of infill developments. Lessons from the design and implementation testing as well as implications for planning practice and academia, are also discussed

Regionalism, Food Security and Economic Development

It is remarkable that Africa, with enormous resource endowments and with more than 70 percent of the population engaged in agriculture, cannot feed itself. This background paper offers a critical assessment of the potential of regional trade and integration in addressing the enduring challenge of food insecurity in Africa. Drawing on the literature, the paper argues that regionalism offers enormous opportunities and synergies for enhancing economic growth, food supply, and stability of food prices that cannot be easily addressed by individual countries when they operate in isolation from each other. To demonstrate the potential of regional integration for achieving food security in Africa, this paper starts by providing a conceptual framework that outlines the dimensions that link regional cooperation and food security. An overview of the key policy initiatives that are currently underway at enhancing integration at the continental level and in various regional blocs follows this introduction. The paper then progresses to a review of the extent of economic integration among African countries, with particular focus on the agriculture and food trade. It then presents a discussion on potential areas of integration followed by an examination of capacity issues that need policy attention in order to improve the potential of continental and regional integration in improving national and household food security among African countries

An application of the edge effect in measuring accessibility to multiple food retailer types in Southwestern Ontario, Canada

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Trends in food retailing associated with the consolidation of smaller-format retailers into fewer, larger-format supercentres have left some rural areas with fewer sources of nutritious, affordable food. Access to nutritious, affordable food is essential for good dietary habits and combating health issues such as type-2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Many studies on food environments use inaccurate or incomplete methods for locating food retailers, which may be responsible for mischaracterising food deserts. This study uses databases of every residence in and every food retailer in and around Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada. Residences were geocoded to their precise address, and network analysis techniques were performed in a geographic information system (GIS) to determine distances between every residence and different types of food retailers (grocery stores, fast food, fruit and vegetable sources, grocery stores plus fruit and vegetable sources, variety stores), both when considering and neglecting facilities outside the area of study, to account for a deficiency in analysis termed the 'edge effect'.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analysis of household accessibility to food outlets by neighbourhood socioeconomic distress level indicated that residents in the most distressed neighbourhoods tended to have better accessibility to all types of food retailers. In the most distressed neighbourhoods, 79 percent of residences were within walking distance of a grocery store, compared to only 10 percent in the least distressed neighbourhoods. When the edge effect was neglected, 37 percent of distance estimates proved inaccurate. Average accessibility to all food retailer types improved dramatically when food outlets adjacent to the study area were considered, thereby controlling for the edge effect.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>By neglecting to consider food retailers just outside study area boundaries, previous studies may significantly over-report the actual distance necessary to travel for food. Research on food access spanning large rural regions requires methods that accurately geocode residents and their food sources. By implementing methods akin to those in this paper, future research will be better able to identify areas with poor food accessibility. Improving identification of food desert communities is a first step in facilitating more effective deployment of food policies and programs in those communities.</p