How Context Influences Local Economic Development: Strategies for Military Base Redevelopment in the 1990s

Author: Lois A. Stanley

Dissertation School: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Pages: 164

Publication Date: July 2003

Availability:
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Access Number: 10764

Abstract:

Local economic development is context-dependent. This is the only aspect of the field upon which practitioners and academics are apt to agree. To better understand just how local economic development is a function of context, it helps to define the term "context." The research on contextual influences in economic development typically refers to attributes of the local setting such as political leadership, available institutional resources, and economic conditions. I will approach the question of how context influences local economic development from a different perspective. Rather than defining context in terms of the local setting, I will define context in terms of the motivation behind the economic development, i.e., the problem to which a community is reacting when it plans an implements economic development strategies.

I will focus on one problem facing many communities today: redeveloping closed military bases. Over 100 U.S. communities are now coping with military base closures mandated by Congress since 1989. Most incorporate economic development strategies into their base reuse plans because they want to offset the impact of job losses, decrease in property values, and/or a decrease in demand for local goods and services. These strategies are necessarily influenced by the context surrounding base closures which has both advantages and disadvantages.

Unlike most economic development efforts in the 1990s, military base redevelopment projects often have the advantages of time, money, and on-site assets. On average, there are 3 years between closure announcement and the time a base shuts down its operations. Base closure communities have access to federal funding, and sometimes state funding, for planning, retraining, and infrastructure improvements. Finally, on-site assets including the land, buildings, and personal property left behind by the military present an opportunity for tax base expansion.

Despite these advantages, economic development strategies can be constrained by the site-specific nature of the problem. Spatial influences in base redevelopment include property size, building condition, environmental contamination, neighboring land uses, multiple regulatory authorities, and multiple jurisdictions impacted by closures. While every on of these attributes is likely to affect strategy alternatives, any one of them can also easily impede redevelopment.

My research goal is to contribute to the literature on how context influences local economic development. I plan to accomplish this by conducting a comparative analysis between the range of economic development strategies pursued inside and outside of the base closure context. I propose two hypotheses in my research design. In the first hypothesis, I suggest that there is a difference in the range of strategies for base redevelopment due to the influence of the base closure context. In the second hypothesis, I suggest that there is no difference because context does not matter.

I will employ two field research methods: survey and case study. A survey I conducted last summer of 43 economic development organizations responsible for base redevelopment will provide extensive data on the base closure context. Over the next year, I will conduct case studies of 4 communities which will provide more in-depth data on the base closure context, early results of different strategies, as well as on economic development practices outside of this context.

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