In an effort to develop a balanced and sustainable growth strategy for the United States, Regional Plan Association and Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, through their joint venture, America 2050, brought together two dozen scholars and economic development practitioners in March 2009 to explore new economic development strategies for the nation’s underperforming regions. This research seminar, entitled “New Strategies for Regional Economic Development,” gathered people with a range of expertise and diversity of backgrounds, including those from declining, post-industrial regions, rural and frontier communities, and experts on state and federal economic development policy to address strategies for declining and bypassed regions within the nation’s emerging megaregions and the vast “white spaces” in between.
The “white spaces” refers to the more than 75 percent of the land area and 25 percent of the population of the country not included in one of the 11 emerging megaregions. America 2050 began several years ago, organized around the idea that these 11 megaregions, home to three-quarters of the nation’s population, are the economic engines of the nation and the new competitive units in the global economy. These regions will also be home to the majority of the growth in both population and jobs in the next half century. As such, special attention to the specific infrastructure needs of these megaregions, such as high-speed rail systems, is crucial to a nation’s long term interests. However, as the initiative shifts its focus to the development of a national growth strategy, it must address not only the 11 megaregions but also the other 75 percent of the land area and 25 percent of the nation’s population if the process is to result in a strategy that is truly national.
The inspiration to address these “white spaces” in the context of an economic development strategy comes from the territorial cohesion program in the European Union, which promotes balanced economic development. This program has identified “economic hot spots”, rural regions, and declining regions and has explored how these regions work together within the context of the EU. In contrast, the economic development strategies that have been pursued in this country have emphasized productivity over cohesion. As a result, vast areas of the nation have been left behind, while the nation’s economic productivity is concentrated in a declining number of “hot” metropolitan regions.
The primary goals of the March 2009 seminar were to explore ways in which this country could pursue a balanced economic development and growth strategy and to articulate a coherent conception of this balanced approach. This includes a synthesis of different strategies, including economic development, landscape conservation, smart growth, and urban revitalization.
For additional information on the America 2050 project, visit the archived America 2050 website.