The role and power of universities in regional economic development is well documented. Research from UNC’s Department of City and Regional Planning suggests that American research universities engaging in economic development missions have directly and positively influenced their surrounding region … Read more

One tool that local governments utilize in order to promote revitalization and growth in communities across North Carolina involve the use of Municipal Service District (MSD) taxation revenue. MSDs are designated areas, usually within a municipality’s central business district or other area of inter … Read more

In implementing plans for neighborhood revitalization, municipalities look for partners whose investment can help lift the desire for revitalization from plan into action. In the past 20 years, one of those partners has increasingly become the local university. Local universities and colleges alread … Read more

Across the country, local governments are increasingly embracing land banking as a key strategy to catalyze and control the revitalization of their vacant and abandoned properties. As described in this post on the CED blog, North Carolina local governments can cobble together the statutory authority … Read more

Universities can help promote economic development in a variety of ways. As Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter notes in an article, universities contribute to regional competitiveness by supporting key industry clusters. According to Porter, universities themselves are part of a growin … Read more

Aaron Nousaine is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning. He is currently working with the Land-of-Sky Regional Council in Asheville through the Carolina Economic Revitalization Corps (CERC). While the majority of my previous posts have focused on … Read more