底特律緣何成為城市改造的典范
想象一個店鋪餐廳林立、顧客歡聲笑語的繁華市中心。而離那里幾個街區的地方,則是樓房破爛不堪、土地閑置、失業率和貧困率居高不下的社區。 這不是個別城市的境況。實際上,美國和其他國家的許多市區都在上演類似的場景。一些充滿生氣、經濟蒸蒸日上的富裕都市也會有社區缺少投資、工作、教育和培訓。 這種情況十分緊迫,不過幸好還有希望:美國城市是出色的創新實驗室。而沒有一個城市比底特律更好地體現了這一點。 2014年起,我們與底特律的市長麥克·達根和社區領袖密切合作,以解決底特律的一些最緊迫的問題。從培養訓練有素的勞動力到讓社區恢復活力,再到促進小型企業發展,我們的一切工作都遵循了包容性增長的戰略,通過幫助現有居民來推動經濟發展。 由于當地領導人的合作和參與,我們在這些挑戰上已經取得了相當的進展。以重振社區為例,我們很早就意識到,如果不在市中心和繁忙的商業走廊以外的區域進行投資,底特律就無法完全回歸。因為城市蕭條而遭遇重創的那些環繞底特律市區和中城的社區,需要我們的鼎力支持。 2016年,公有、私有和慈善組織一同成立了戰略社區基金(Strategic Neighborhood Fund, SNF),這項倡議讓社區開發商與私有、慈善和公有資本聯合起來幫助貧困社區。 過去兩年里,戰略社區基金一直在利用基金來建設商用和住宅房地產,維持并增加更多經濟適用房,改善社區基礎設施和服務,如增加行人照明、提高路口安全性、優化公園、共享自行車線路、拆除破舊房屋等。West Village數十年來第一個新建的混合用途小區Coe就是戰略社區基金開發的此類項目之一。如今,得到慈善捐助和政府補貼的戰略社區基金還將募集1,300萬美元,在已經開展的三個社區項目之外,再讓底特律的七個社區重新振興。 通過戰略社區基金這樣的合作,底特律開始努力創造“20分鐘社區”:居民通過走路或騎車,能在20分鐘之內享受基本的需求與服務,包括雜貨店、餐廳、醫院、學校、公園和公共交通系統。這樣做的目標是提高居民的便利性與生活質量,為所有收入階層的人營造可以并且愿意居住的環境,從而消除障礙,創造機會。 促進小型企業發展,尤其是那些由少數族裔的企業家擁有的企業,也是我們復興社區的重要一環。 由黑人擁有的企業在底特律占比為77%,在美國50個人口最多的城市中排名第一。滿足這些企業家的需求,對于讓他們放手創造機遇、推動當地經濟增長而言至關重要。由底特律發展基金(Detroit Development Fund)支持,得到摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)和凱洛格基金會(W.K. Kellogg Foundation)贊助的有色企業家基金(Entrepreneurs of Color Fund)為那些無法獲得傳統形式資金的人提供了低息貸款和技術支持。這個基金十分成功,以至于它在2018年吸引了新的投資者,規模達到1,800萬美元,是以前的三倍,最近還擴張到了舊金山、芝加哥和南布朗克斯。 盡管還有許多工作要做,但這些全面的實地工作已經描繪了讓世界各地城市最為困擾的問題迎刃而解的藍圖。 摩根大通最近把這個模式引入了法國。公司宣布在“大巴黎”(Greater Paris)投資3,000萬美元,并會重點關注該地區貧困率和失業率最高的社區。這項投資將針對貧困社區,目標是促進小型企業發展,向居民提供攀登經濟階梯所需的技能培訓。 我們的城市改造模式行之有效,是因為它給居民提供了改善生活的機會。我遇到的這些居民希望城市、企業和社區的領袖拋開狹隘的利益,通力協作來解決社區問題。 我希望更多的城市能夠注意到我們在底特律為應對艱難的經濟挑戰所做的工作。幫助掙扎的城市重新煥發生機與我們所有人息息相關,只有通過有意義的合作,我們才能實現這一目標。(財富中文網) 作者彼得·L·謝爾是摩根大通的企業責任主管和中太平洋地區董事長。 譯者:嚴匡正 |
Imagine a bustling downtown filled with inviting shops, restaurants, and happy patrons. Just a few blocks away sit neighborhoods with dilapidated houses, buildings, and vacant lots, high unemployment and high poverty rates. This isn’t the story of any one city. In fact, we see this playing out in far too many urban areas across the U.S. and around the world. Some of the wealthiest cities with vibrant and growing economies have neighborhoods that are struggling from lack of investment, jobs, education, and training. This situation is urgent, but thankfully there is hope: American cities are excellent laboratories for innovation. And no city better reflects this than Detroit. Since 2014, we have been working closely with Mayor Mike Duggan and community leaders to solve some of Detroit’s most pressing issues. All of our work—from creating a trained workforce to revitalizing neighborhoods to boosting small business expansion—follows a strategy of inclusive growth that strengthens the economy by helping existing residents. Thanks to the cooperation and engagement of local leaders, significant progress has been made on these challenges. Take neighborhood revitalization, for example. We recognized early on that Detroit would not fully come back if we did not invest in areas beyond downtown and busy commercial corridors. The neighborhoods—communities surrounding downtown and Midtown Detroit that have been hardest hit by the city’s downturn—needed significant help. In 2016, public, private, and philanthropic partners jointly developed the Strategic Neighborhood Fund (SNF), an initiative that brings together community developers and private, philanthropic, and public capital to help distressed neighborhoods. Over the past two years, the SNF has been using funds to build commercial and residential real estate, preserve and add more affordable housing, and enhance community infrastructure and services such as pedestrian lighting, safer street crossings, park improvements, bike-share lanes, and the removal of blighted homes. The Coe—the first new mixed-use development in West Village in decades—is an example of one such project developed by the SNF. Now, drawing from philanthropic contributions and public subsidies, the SNF is working on raising an additional $130 million to revitalize seven more neighborhoods in Detroit, on top of the three it already oversees. Through partnerships like the SNF, the city has been working to create “20-minute neighborhoods”: areas where residents are a 20-minute walk or a short bike ride away from basic needs and services, including grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals, schools, parks, and public transit. The goal behind this is to remove barriers to opportunity by enhancing convenience and quality of life for residents and creating the conditions for which people at all income levels can and want to live. Boosting growth of small businesses, particularly those owned by minority entrepreneurs, has also been a critical part of our approach to neighborhood revitalization. Detroit has the highest percentage of black-owned businesses, 77%, out of America’s 50 most populous cities. Meeting the needs of these entrepreneurs has been vital in unleashing their power as drivers of opportunity and local economic growth. The Entrepreneurs of Color Fund—facilitated by the Detroit Development Fund, with funding from JPMorgan Chase and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation—provides low-cost loans and access to technical assistance to people who can’t obtain traditional forms of capital. This fund has been so successful that in 2018 it attracted new investors, tripling in size to $18 million and recently expanding to San Francisco, Chicago, and the South Bronx. While much work remains to be done, these comprehensive efforts on the ground have yielded a blueprint for addressing the most vexing issues faced by cities around the world. Recently, JPMorgan took this model to France, announcing a $30 million investment across Greater Paris with a particular focus on the region’s neighborhoods with the highest poverty and unemployment rates. The investment will target distressed neighborhoods with the goal of boosting small business growth and providing people the skills training needed to climb the economic ladder. Our urban renewal model works because it helps provide people with opportunities to improve their lives. The residents I’ve met want civic, business, and community leaders to set aside their parochial interests and work together to solve community problems. My hope is that more cities will look to our work in Detroit for solutions to stubborn economic challenges. We all have a stake in restoring struggling cities, and we can only get there through meaningful collaboration. Peter L. Scher is the head of corporate responsibility and chairman of the mid-Atlantic region for JPMorgan Chase. |