In July 2009, Kent State University’s Center for Public Administration and Public Policy and its Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative released a study that assesses alternative approaches for managing vital infrastructure in cities that are losing population. The report makes it clear that infrastructure management is best viewed from a regional perspective, and it includes recommendations about potential areas for management improvements.
“We identified a series of long-term steps that can help improve the management of our water, energy, and transportation infrastructure in cities that are losing population,” said Dr. John Hoornbeek, one of the study’s co-authors.
Some of the long term recommendations included in the report are:
- Reduce costs and improve services by assessing the condition and importance of assets and targeting key infrastructure for maintenance;
- Improve coordination of decision making across infrastructures (water, energy, etc.);
- Consider upgrading infrastructure with SMART technologies;
- Use vacant land to aid in alternative energy production and/or storm water management;
- Develop more detailed studies to look at infrastructure costs associated with urban sprawl.
The report focuses on Cleveland’s water, sewer, energy and transportation infrastructure and was developed based on interviews with engineers, public works professionals and the people who manage infrastructure in Northeast Ohio. The report may also be of interest to observers and professionals in other cities with declining populations.
Ms. Terry Schwarz, a co-author of the report and Senior Planner with the Urban Design Collaborative said that “we found no evidence that decommissioning infrastructure on a widespread scale would outweigh the opportunity costs of removing usable roads, sewers and water lines.”
Rather, the study suggests that infrastructure may constitute a comparative advantage for Cleveland in the future and this should be taken into account as infrastructure management decisions are made.
The study was supported by a grant provided by the Northeast Ohio Research Consortium, a research arm of the Ohio Urban University Program. You can download a copy of the report at www.kent.edu/cpapp.