“Strategic
Geographic Targeting in Community Development: Examining the Congruence of
Political, Institutional, and Technical Factors” by Dale E. Thomson.
My assigned community this semester is
Ferguson, and one setback that I have heard fairly consistently from residents
concerns the vacant houses in Ferguson.
The article I chose deals with a project undertaken in Detroit Michigan,
in which Strategic Geographic Targeting (SGT) was attempted. SGT is basically the process of allocating
and targeting a large number of resources to a specific area. A selected area is chosen when the area is
believed to maximize multiplier, interaction, focus, and neighborhood spillover
effects. A multiplier effect occurs when
investment in the community triggers other private investments. An interaction effect occurs when investment
in the target community interacts with supplementary investments. A focus effect occurs when key members
working in the community realize the needs of the community. A neighborhood spillover effect essentially
facilities investments in other close neighborhoods due to the magnitude of
impact in the target community.
Efficiency-based SGT (EB-SGT) takes this a step further by factoring in
necessary demographic data that would maximize these aforementioned factors to
stimulate economic development in other communities around the city. This criteria often points to “middle
neighborhoods” — neighborhoods that are not ridden with poverty, dilapidated,
or rich and affluent.
Basically, the author of the current
study did what we are doing now — he conducted 40 interviews with key
government officials, staff from community development agencies, nonprofits,
and analyzed numerous documents to determine what factors were responsible for
the failed EB-SGT. The author surmises
that, although Detroit was a prime city to study, “political, institutional,
and technical factors” (Thomson, 2011) impeded the success of the project. Specifically, government officials did not
use the appropriate methods to find optimal EB-SGT communities, and the focus
of many agencies was on “high-need,” or impoverished communities.
When I began to read this article, I was
thinking of just Ferguson, but I now think that this EB-SGT approach might be
more applicable to all of St. Louis. It
is interesting to consider what neighborhoods/municipalities would be “targeted
communities” that would have multiplier, interaction, focus, and neighborhood
spillover effects that might lead to economic growth in nearby, lower-income
communities. The article also reports
that EB-SGT was attempted in other cities such as Baltimore, Dallas, Milwaukee,
Philadelphia, etc. I wonder what the
results were and if those cities saw success…
I guess that’s an area of future research!
Of the 10,074 housing units in Ferguson,
1,211 are vacant! Thus, this data
supports the concerns of Ferguson residents.
I would be interested to hear from those of you assigned to other
communities… Are vacancies also a problem?
How do your numbers specific to housing compare to the Ferguson
statistics?
Also, do you think that this approach is
in accordance with social work? Is the
middle-class under-prioritized due to a focus on lower-income populations?
After attending the documentary "Inequality for All," I do believe lower middle class neighborhoods may not receive the scrutiny of poverty stricken neighborhoods, because they seem to be handling their stresses. However, the documentary points out that the numerous families in this income bracket are often just one paycheck away from a financial crisis due to salaries not keeping up with cost of living. It sounds like EB-SGT is an intriguing concept for prevention and enhancement rather than reaction (waiting to see if there is failure). Cheri
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very interesting!
ReplyDeleteI do think this approach is in accordance with social work because the approach is ultimately for the benefit of all members of all economic classes, not just one class.
Also, I do think this is an approach that would work in many parts of St. Louis, especially St. Louis City. In fact, I would say that it is actually occurring now. Take parts of South City that have been "revitalized." We have the PATCH neighborhood that has many new businesses as well as Cherokee street that has experienced revitalization that has spilled over into other communities.
Overall, I find this approach to be very interesting and believe it would be beneficial to the St. Louis region.