The government success in revitalizing Old City Semarang

The historic city will suffer damage eventually if left without any preservation action. One of the conservation measures is revitalization. Indonesia has several historic city heritages that have undergone revitalization and spread in big cities. Semarang Old City, Central Java is one of the historic areas that experienced significant changes after revitalization. The Semarang Old City revitalization has been able to revive an area that was once almost abandoned so that it is now a bustling area of visitors. Significant changes in Semarang Old City are an indication of successful revitalization. The problem found is how the government can successfully revitalize the old city of Semarang so that it becomes a tourist destination. This study aims to determine in the architecture theory what key strategies are carried out in the revitalization of the Old City of Semarang. This research uses the descriptive qualitative method with data obtained from observations. The result shows how the revitalization was carried out by the government, such as 1). Repairing old historic buildings to have economic value and attract visitors; 2). Arranging and repairing infrastructures, facilities, and utilities; 3). Add some facilities to support the tourism function.

Gateway District: The Opportunities of City Gate as a Growth Centre Reinforcement.

Inauguration Kuala Namu Airport in 2012 has established access to area of Medan, Binjai, Deli Serdang and Karo (Mebidangro) region as a leading tourist destination. As the central hub to the area declared Mebidangro, Medan city railway station in the center of Merdeka Square as a main gate. The facts show that the concept of the gates are inadequate in physical appearance as well as activities that memorable as the charming gateway. In simple terms refers to a landmark gate marker. City revitalization in addition to using a model of revitalization can be done with a model revealing the wisdom of local activities. In the era of visual communication and local activities as opportunities for the development of a place, the potential Merdeka Square neighborhood activities become eligible as an aspect of quality amplifier forming place (reinforcement place making). With the method of observation and analysis of spatial solid-void it is obtained that the Merdeka Square is a model of district gateway rather than a landmark gateway by appearing the activities of local commercial, local culture, heritage adventure, social interaction as a trigger activity. These findings are useful for policy makers to look at the Merdeka Square as forming productivity growth Medan city center as well as reinforcing the identity of Medan city.

New Business Activity and Employment Dynamics in the Inner City: The Case of Phoenix, Arizona

Inner city revitalization efforts centered on fostering new business activity are controversial because they assume that the job creating capacity of new businesses is capable of impacting aggregate employment levels in inner city neighborhoods. Given this controversy, this article examines the link between new business activity and inner city employment growth in Phoenix, Arizona. Analytical results highlight job creation from new business activity but a net negative association between new business activity and employment growth stemming from the loss of jobs from large employers in inner city neighborhoods. This relationship highlights that encouraging new business activity is not necessarily a bad idea for local residents and customers, but should not be viewed as a panacea for all inner city problems. Instead, new business activity should be viewed as one component of multifaceted initiatives to revitalize inner city neighborhoods.

The Servant Class City

The Servant Class City demonstrates that for San Diego’s inner city revitalization, focusing on new development, visitor services, and high-rises overlooks the dramatic growth in low-wage service work, and persistent challenges facing poor, and working poor inner city residents. The book documents how over in a 30 year period, San Diego’s urban revitalization targeted specific industries, creating thousands of low-wage jobs and transforming the inner city, while at the same time broader economic trends further eroded the economic standing of the urban poor and working poor. As a result, inner city revitalization was planned and dependent on the continued expansion of poor and working poor households, while a range of other economic challenges, from payday lending and check cashing to unaffordable housing and limited social safety nets, have made the economic standing of the urban poor and working poor even more precarious, despite dramatic urban revitalization. David J. Karjanen argues that this process, as well as the broader efforts of urban policy, fails to adequately address the highly complex economic problems of the urban and working poor, and only a dramatic re-thinking of these issues will generate substantial solutions.

Subsidizing Capital and Expanding Low-Wage Work

The first chapter looks at the background of San Diego’s inner city revitalization, the targeting and subsidization of specific industries, and the politics involved in the process. Since the 1970s, growing inequality, declining economic mobility, and an erosion of standardized work and wages for most Americans has reshaped the postwar U.S. economy. The dominant shift throughout the 1980s and 1990s saw more neoliberal economic policies adopted at the federal level and below. These coincided or overlapped with urban devolution, reduced federal funding for urban renewal programs, a shift toward more conservative-favored efforts like enterprise zones, and the elimination of welfare as a system of income supports. All of these changes resulted in growing income inequality and greater economic and labor market polarization overall, and they left many inner-city residents isolated and with high rates of joblessness.