Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow Center for Community Progress

STRATEGIC INCREMENTALISM

AND LEGACY CITIES

TWO APPROACHES TO PLANNINGMake no small plans: they have no magic to stir men’s blood. -Daniel

Burnham

Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans. - John Lennon

MAKING BIG PLANS

Master plans look good, but do they work?

“Youngstown, Ohio’s groundbreaking plan for revival collides with recession and hard choices about neighborhood survival.”Christian Science Monitor, May 29, 2009

BIG PLANS DON’T ANSWER KEY QUESTIONS

Where do you start?

How do you prioritize?

How do you deal with the realities of limited resources?

How do you adapt to constant change?

BUT IS THIS THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE?

NO

WHAT DRIVES URBAN TRANSFORMATION?

Mega-projects?

Incremental change?

No city stands still. Incremental change – for good or bad – is constantly happening. The question is the direction of change.

Is it like this?

or like this?

What makes the difference?

CHANGE IS THE CONSTANT

A process of taking incremental steps grounded in a coherent vision of the future, anchored by market reality and local knowledge, implemented by targeting investment to further the vision.

STRATEGIC INCREMENTALISM

A vision is not a

A vision is a shared framework for thinking about the future of the city and its neighborhoods – as a physical, economic and social entity.

WHAT IS A VISION?

* * * *plan * * * *

Understand market conditionsUnderstand resource constraintsUnderstand political and social dynamicsRealistically value local energy and capabilities.

BE VISIONARY BUT REALISTIC

What are you trying to save?Buildings?Neighborhoods?Memories?

What are you trying to create?A particular physical environment?A sense of shared history?

What is your vision of the future city?What is your role in fostering the

future city?

WHAT IS YOUR VISION OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION?

WHAT ARE THE REALITIES?

• Market demand and financial resources are limited• Historic preservation in legacy cities always Involves making choices. This? or This?

Historic preservation is one strand among many that should animate the vision for the future city.

Historic preservation advocates need to be sensitive to the other strands – economic, physical, social, etc. and their advocates.

The vision for the future city needs to be a shared one – not a collection of separate, disparate, visions.

PUTTING HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN CONTEXT

Plans and projects generally reflect incremental thinking.

Strategic incrementalism requires transformative thinking.

A COUNTER-INTUITIVE CONCLUSION