The accompanying volume for the "Legacy Cities" Assembly will be published in January, 2012 on Amazon.com. "Rebuilding America's Legacy Cities: New Directions for the Industrial Heartland," features chapters by thirteen national and international leaders and thinkers on urban policy and is a much needed addition to the land use and urban policy world.

 

"Legacy cities" offer both resources for and impose burdens on the larger economy. They contain untapped resources of human capital, and billions of dollars in sunk infrastructure investment in roads, transit, sewer and water facilities, parks, and other public facilities. They contain major networks of educational and medical facilities, including such renowned centers as Johns Hopkins, Carnegie-Mellon, and the Cleveland Clinic, while they continue to serve as regional and national centers of culture, art, sport, and entertainment. These assets and resources are of critical importance for a nation struggling with rebuilding its economy and finding its course in the twenty-first century.

 

This volume plays a critical role in building engagement by reshaping the policy conversation about America’s legacy cities at the local, state, and federal levels. It tries to answer a central, salient question: How can change best be brought about? What attitudes and past practices need to be changed and what concrete steps need to be taken in order to put these cities on the path to regeneration as smaller, healthier cities?