Hyperlocal
Place Governance in a Fragmented World
Hyperlocal: Place Governance in a Fragmented World looks at the growing importance of organizations that operate at the neighborhood and district level—from business improvement districts and community land trusts to neighborhood councils and other forms of place-based governance.
American cities have seen enormous investment in downtowns, waterfronts, innovation districts, and other high-profile places. At the same time, concentrated poverty, racial segregation, and uneven access to investment remain persistent across urban, suburban, and rural communities. Hyperlocal starts with the proposition that addressing those disparities requires us to think not only about what gets invested in places, but how places themselves are governed.
The book brings together research on a remarkably diverse collection of organizations that often aren't thought of as belonging to the same field. What connects them is scale: they operate closer to the ground than traditional municipal government, creating structures through which businesses, property owners, residents, nonprofits, and other stakeholders can organize around a particular place.
That proximity can create opportunities for experimentation, responsiveness, and greater community participation. But hyperlocal governance also raises important questions about representation, accountability, resources, and power: Who gets to participate? Who makes decisions? Which neighborhoods have the capacity to organize and attract investment? And who benefits when they do?
By examining these different models together, Hyperlocal offers a framework for understanding place governance as a field in its own right—and asks how these increasingly important organizations might contribute to more inclusive economic growth and prosperity.
For anyone working in downtown management, BIDs, community development, or placemaking, the subject may feel particularly familiar: these organizations increasingly occupy the complicated space between traditional government, private enterprise, and community.