More on the Lack of a National Urban Agenda
by Dan Walsh on February 27, 2008 in All Politics is Local: An Urban Policy Blog
Two articles talk about the presidential candidates’ lack of comprehensive urban agendas. Harvard economist Edward Glaeser wrote an article in January that analyzes the policies of the major presidential candidates and explains why they fall short. The recent article by Bruce Katz from the Brookings Institution argues that candidates should pay more attention to cities because they are the drivers of the nation’s economy. Katz goes on to summarize how cities spur innovation. Both articles talk about how the lack of clear, overarching goals leads to policies that pull in different directions. The articles also argue that changes in the national economy require policies focused on innovation and people. However, the Katz article emphasizes the importance of investing in certain industries and places, which is an approach that Glaeser rejects in his article.
The Katz article reads like a call for help, whereas Glaeser goes beyond the argument for why cities matter and critiques each candidate’s urban policies. For example, Glaeser makes the good point that education policy is a central part of urban development and applauds Clinton for focusing on the issue. The following quote from the Glaeser article is especially interesting: “Republicans now ignore cities altogether, and Democratic urban policies cater too much to well-organized urban interests. We need national politicians to pay more attention to urban problems, and this will only happen when we start judging them on their urban policies.”
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