Perspectives on Urban Economic Planning: the Case of Washington, D.C., Since 1880
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Portland State University PDXScholar Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Publications and Presentations Planning Spring 1989 Perspectives on Urban Economic Planning: The Case of Washington, D.C., Since 1880 Carl Abbott Portland State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/usp_fac Part of the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Citation Details Abbott, C., Perspectives on Urban Economic Planning: The Case of Washington, D.C., Since 1880. The Public Historian, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring, 1989), pp. 5-21. This Article is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Research Perspectiveson Urban Economic Planning:The Case ofWashington, D.C., Since 1880 CARL ABBOTT THEREIS LITTLE DOUBTthat the United States has been undergoinga sweeping and multi-facetedeconomic transformationsince the early 1970s. The industrialmix and spatialdistribution of activities within the nationaleconomy are being alteredby basic changes,including (1) the simultaneousgrowth of certain manufacturing industries and the decline of others,(2) the broad decentralizationof manufacturingproduction to overseaslocations and the risingimportance of international trade, (3) the shiftof employment from manufacturing and transportationinto informa- tionprocessing activities, and (4) the emergenceof historically peripheral regionsin the South and West as centersof innovationand economic change.' In varyingcombinations, these changesare alteringthe economiccir- cumstancesof American cities and forcingreconsideration of appropriate economicroles. Withthe effectivewithdrawal of the federalgovernment Researchfor this essay was made possibleby the supportof the Center for Washington Area Studies,the George WashingtonUniversity. 1. For examplesof ways to conceptualizethe changes, see BarryBluestone and Bennett Harrison,The Deindustrializationof America (New York:Basic Books, 1982); LarrySawers and WilliamTabb, eds., Sunbelt/Snowbelt:Urban Development and RegionalRestructuring (New York:Oxford University Press, 1984);Alfred Watkins and David Perry,eds., The Rise of the SunbeltCities (BeverlyHills: Sage Publications,1977); Daniel Bell, The Comingof Post-IndustrialSociety (New York:Basic Books,1973); George Sternlieb and JamesHughes, eds., Post-IndustrialAmerica (New Brunswick,N.J.: Center forUrban PolicyResearch, 1975). 5 The PublicHistorian, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring1989) C 1989 by the Regentsof the Universityof California 6 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN as an initiatorof local economicdevelopment in the 1980s,responsibility has fallenon statesand municipalitiesas the traditionalpromoters of urbangrowth.2 State economic development agencies, blue-ribbon pan- els, futurestask forces, and special economicplanning committees in a varietyof versionshave all aimed to considerwhat theirvarious cities shoulddo next. In some cases, the resultmay be the abandonmentof economicstrategies that sufficedfor a centuryor more. Civic leaders acrossthe countrychase high-techindustry. Manufacturing cities seek positionsin the transactionaleconomy. Other communities try to devise new rolesas internationalretail cities, travel destinations, amateur sports centers,or healthcare centers. Debates aboutthe futureof American cities draw heavily on academic expertisein economics,planning, regional science, and relatedfields. Bookcatalogs in theseapplied fields are filledwith city and regionalcase studieswhose titlesor subtitlesproclaim their interest in "deindustrial- ization,""reindustrialization," "economic prospects," "structural change," and "prospectsfor change.'"3 However, few studies are availableto allow comparisonof current economic planning concerns with past experiences. As a contributiontoward a historicallyinformed discussion of decision- makingin economicrestructuring, I have begun to explorethe case of Washington,D.C., a citythat has neverfound it easy to achievea "natu- ral"economic role. It has experiencedan ambiguousregional orientation, uncertainopportunities, and entrenchedpreconceptions about appropri- ate activities.In particular,the generationof Washington leaders follow- ing the upheavalsof Civil War and Reconstructionfaced a need foreco- nomicredirection with parallels to the deindustrializingfactory towns of the 1970sand 1980s. The focusof this examinationis the evolvingcharacter of ideas on Washington'spotentials as an economicentity. Washingtonians have en- gagedin an ongoing"conversation" or discussionabout the possibilities of 2. EdwardM. Bergman,ed., Local Economiesin Transition:Policy Realities and Devel- opmentPotentials (Durham: Duke UniversityPress, 1986); Roger S. Ahlbrandt,Jr. and Clyde Weaver,"Public-Private Institutions and AdvancedTechnology Development in Southwest- ernPennsylvania, "Journal of the American Planning Association 53 (Autumn1987), 449-58; Dennis R. Juddand RandyL. Ready,"Entrepreneurial Cities and the New Politicsof Eco- nomicDevelopment," in George Petersonand Carol Lewis, eds., Reagan and the Cities (Washington,D.C.: UrbanInstitute Press, 1986),209-47; Dewey Bandy,"Local Develop- mentPlanning in the 1980s,"Journal of Planning Literature 2 (Spring1987), 136-52. 3. RichardChild Hill, "Crisisin the MotorCity: The Politicsof EconomicRedevelop- mentin Detroit,"in NormanFainstein and Susan Fainstein,eds., Restructuringthe City (New York:Longman, Inc., 1986), 80-125; HarryW. Richardsonand JosephH. Turek, eds., EconomicProspects for theNortheast (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1985); BarryCheckoway and Carl Patton,eds., The MetropolitanMidwest: Policy Problems and Prospectsfor Change (Urbana:University of IllinoisPress, 1985); MortonSchoolman and AlvinMagid, eds., ReindustrializingNew YorkState: Strategies,Implications, Challenges (Albany:SUNY Press, 1986); David McKee and RichardBennett, eds., StructuralChange in an UrbanIndustrial Region: The Northeast Ohio Case (New York:Praeger, 1987). URBAN ECONOMIC PLANNING * 7 Table 1. GROWTH OF FEDERAL CIVILIAN EMPLOYMENT IN RELATION TO POPULATION Change in Changeas Percentof Federal Jobs BeginningPopulation 1851-61 666 1.3 percent 1861-71 4,023 5.4 1871-81 6,902 5.2 1881-91 7,710 4.3 1891-1901 7,760 3.7 1901-1910 10,867 3.9 1910-20 55,199 16.7 1920-30 -21,078 -4.8 1930-40 66,738 13.7 1940-50 83,542 9.2 1950-60 16,561 1.1 1960-70 87,496 4.4 1970-80 18,631 0.7 Base populationsthrough 1930 are forthe Districtof Columbia; for 1940 for the Washington MetropolitanDistrict; for 1950-70 forthe Washington metropolitan area. Through1900, the beginningpopulation is takenat the census year. Sources: HistoricalStatistics of the UnitedStates and U. S. Officeof PersonnelManage- ment,Federal CivilianWorkforce Statistics: Annual Report by GeographicalAr- eas (1980) economicdevelopment.4 My interestlies in thearticulation and evolution ofpublic ideas, not in the separatequestions of the implementationpro- cess or the equitable divisionof the benefitsof growth. Ideas about eco- nomicdevelopment may have theirfinal test as theyaffect the production and distributionof wealth, but theyalso have careersas intellectualcon- structsthat express a socialcontext of power and values. Because of the continuingpresence of the federalgovernment as a guarantoragainst complete economic obsolescence, it mightbe argued thatWashington's economic debate lackedthe same do-or-diecharacter of suchdebates in othercities. In fact,most economic strategy in established citieshas to do withchoices at the margin,whether they involve additions to a governmentalor a manufacturingemployment base. Participantsin the Washingtonconversation were seekingways to expand a profitable economyon thefederal foundation. It is also worthnoting that the level of interestin Washingtonrose between 1880 and 1914 and againduring the 1950s and 1970s, all times of relativestability in Washington'sfederal employmentfollowing periods of more rapid expansion (see Table 1). 4. Use ofthe term"conversation" is borrowedby analogyfrom Thomas Bender's recent descriptionof the protractedand fragmenteddiscourse about the characterof New Yorkas an intellectualcommunity in New YorkIntellect: A Historyof Intellectual Life in New York City,from 1750 to the Beginningsof Our Own Time (New York:Alfred A. Knopf,1987). 8 * THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN Explorationof Washington's experience with economic strategy-making can also help to amplifya relativelyundeveloped topic in thehistoriogra- phy of urbaneconomic growth and planning.Historians have a broadly based understandingof the importance of a business-basedgrowth consen- sus and growthcoalitions in shapingpublic decisions in Americancities. Wide-ranginghistorical case studiessupplement a substantialbody of socialscience theory detailing the dynamicsof the entrepreneurialcity.5 An even more extensiveliterature describes the specifictechniques of promotionand developmentthat have been triedand testedby urban businessand politicalleaders through nearly two centuries.6 Betweenacceptance of growthas a majorcivic goal and the choiceof particularpromotional techniques and programs,however, is an interme- diate step of developingand articulatinga growthstrategy to guide governmentbodies, community organizations, and perhapsprivate entre- preneurs.The processof community entrepreneurship