Linking Downtown Development to Broader Community Goals - an Analysis of Linkage Policy in Three Cities

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1986

Publication Title

Journal of the American Planning Association

Abstract

Since 1981 three American cities—Boston, San Francisco, and Santa Monica—have adopted downtown planning policies that link large-scale commercial development with housing, transit, and employment to mitigate the negative effects of downtown growth. In this article I review the experience of those cities. I also discuss issues raised in debates about linkage policies in other cities and the factors that are critical to adoption of such policies; identify policy issues in the design and implementation of linkage programs; discuss the legality and effects of linkage policies; and analyze two alternatives to linkage policies. I conclude that only a few cities are likely to adopt linkage policies; that linkage programs are likely to have a significant but only marginal effect on social problems aggravated by downtown growth; that the effects and legality of linkage are unresolved; that linkage policies should be tied to comprehensive downtown plans; and that such policies can provide an equitable means of redistributing the social costs of downtown development.

Original Citation

Keating, W. D. (1986). Linking downtown development to broader community goals: An analysis of linkage policy in three cities. Journal of the American Planning Association, 52, 2, 133-141.

DOI

10.1080/01944368608976613

Volume

52

Issue

2

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