Reversing Urban Decline

Detroit’s bankruptcy is the most severe example of the financial implications of the movement of wealth to the suburbs. When residents and businesses leave, central cities have a disproportionate share of most regions’ lower-income households. At the same time, many central cities collect less revenue as states cut financial support. So, we are left with the question: can central cities change patterns of economic activity? In Reversing Urban Decline: Why and How Sports, Entertainment, and Culture Turn Cities into Major League Winners, Second Edition author Mark Rosentraub details how central cities facing increasing levels of economic segregation can use new urban areas anchored by sports venues to enhance their financial position.

Rosentraub anchors the book more closely in the center of the debate on urban revitalization, the financial issues facing central cities, and the ways in which public leaders can respond to the economic segregation developing between central cities and their suburban areas. That disparity is reducing the taxes that central cities receive, reducing their ability to provide the services residents need.

Rather than just provide us with a brief escape from our problems, sports and entertainment, with the right leadership, can create opportunities for our cities to reinvent and reinvigorate themselves. Placing sports as one of the central elements to revitalize urban centers, this book uses several case studies to develop a set of rules to help cities plan for the effective use and returns from their investments in sports, entertainment, and cultural centers.