BIDs: An Export Innovation?
These days, American planners often look to Europe for exemplary urban design and policy. Recently the tables have turned as Mayor Ole von Beust considers the adoption of Business Improvement Districts in Hamburg. The city has over 4.3 million square feet of retail in large shopping centers, not counting 30 smaller centers and arcades. To complete with them, "interest groups" can currently be formed among independent stores, but participation is strictly voluntary. Business improvement districts, patterned after the North American model, would provide a more effective tool that shares costs among all who benefit. [Editor's note: Thanks to Ryan Park for providing this summary. The source article is available in German only.]
Thanks to Ryan Park
- Infographic: Space Allocation by Population in 15 U.S. Cities
- Denver Freeway Expansion Makes a Bad Situation Worse
- A Tipping Point in the Geography of the Creative Class?
- What Made It Possible for Oregon to End Single-Family Zoning?
- Master-Planned Cities in the Spotlight
- Op-Ed: Lakewood's Growth Cap Is 'Climate Arson'
- SUVs Kill Pedestrians—and They Have for a Long Time
- Research: Transit Times Determine Social Networks
- Report: Lack of Apartments Contributes to the Housing Affordability Crisis
- No Quick Fixes for L.A.’s Transit Ridership Woes
- Uncertain Future of Portland’s Neighborhood Associations Causing Controversy
- As Extreme Weather Becomes More Common, Dams Become More Vulnerable
- The Argument Against Home Ownership
- French 'EcoTax' Targets Air Travel to Benefit Rail Network
- Sidewalk Labs' Quayside Plans Get First Public Hearing in Toronto
- Wave of New Apartment Building in Sydney Means Relief for Renters
- Does the Plan to Revitalize a D.C. Canal Too Much Resemble the High Line?
- Parking Minimums Not Required in a Larger Section of Houston
- 'Vision Zero 2.0' Launched When Vision Zero 1.0 Didn't Save Any Lives
- Low-Income Housing Tax Credits Lose Luster in the Post-GOP Tax Reform World
