PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
PAD 5805: Economic Development and Urban Revitalization
[Section R8X; Class Number: 17527]
Spring 2012 Syllabus
Website: http://www.fiu.edu/~ganapati
Instructor
Office
Telephone
Email
Office hours
Sukumar Ganapati
PCA 363B, University Park Campus
(305) 348-6275
ganapati@fiu.edu
Thursday: 3.30 pm to 4.45 pm [or by appointment].
Class hours
Location
Friday, 5.30 pm to 9.30 pm; Saturday, 9.30 am to 1.30 pm
Pines campus
Catalog description
This course is an interdisciplinary examination of research and practice in contemporary
economic development, with emphasis on successful implementation in a variety of settings.
Course Objectives
The course will deal with key economic development concepts, theories and models. We will
particularly explore the public administrator’s role in implementing key economic development
tools and techniques for rejuvenating urban distressed areas. We will pay more attention to
South Florida, but we will do so in the broader context of state, national, and global forces.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Educational Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:
 Articulate the key economic development theories
 Apply an economic development tool in a given context
 Identify the role of the public administrator in rejuvenating an area
Course Design
The course is divided into three parts. The first part will deal with the local economic
development concepts, tools, and techniques. This will lay the theoretical foundation of the
course. The second part will deal with the policy and the institutional context of local economic
development. This will focus on the local competitiveness in the broader regulatory and global
context. The third part will deal with the different components of implementing economic
development. This part will be flexible depending on students’ interests. Tentative areas of
coverage include: environment, technology, and housing.
The course will be taught as a seminar. Students will need to be well-prepared with the
assigned readings to effectively engage in classroom discussions.
Course Requirements
There will be one test, one term paper, and a project. All exercises are designed to maximize
the potential to achieve the educational learning outcomes indicated before. Broadly, the test
will deal with the issues covered in class. More details about the test’s coverage will be given in
class at appropriate times. The term paper will be an article covering an aspect of economic
development in depth. Students will need to present the abstract of the term paper in class on
the suitable date allocated to them. The project will be related to the revitalization of Liberty City.
The project will be in groups of 2 to 3 students. The final product will be a dashboard format
report.
The term paper (as well as any essay portion of tests) needs to be uploaded to Turnitin.com.
Please do note the statement on plagiarism and academic misconduct at the end
of this syllabus. This is taken very seriously.
Class attendance is important. Less than 50 percent attendance will be an automatic F grade.
Exercise schedule and weightage
Test 1
Liberty City Project
Term Paper
Class attendance & participation
04/13/12
04/28/12
04/29/12
Total
30 points
30 points
30 points
10 points
100 points
GRADE
A
B+
BC
D+
D-
TOTAL POINTS
93-100
83-87
73-77
63-67
53-57
43-47
AB
C+
CD
F
88-92
78-82
68-72
58-62
48-52
< 43
Text
The following book is required for the course:
 Edward J. Blakely and Nancy Green Leigh, Planning Local Economic Development, 4th
Edition, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2009.
Selected additional readings from other sources will also be used, as noted in the schedule.
Schedule of Readings
PART 1: BASIC CONCEPTS AND TOOLS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
3/30/2012
Introduction: The Face of the New Urban Economy
Readings:
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch 3 (Concepts and Theory of Local Economic Development)
 Gordon, Gerald L. 2009. “Local Economic Recovery: Growth after the Fall” (Case studies), In The Formula
for Economic Growth on Main Street America. CRC Press. [In class reading]
 Jacobs, Jane. 1969. “How Cities Start Growing”, In The Economy of Cities. Random House. [In class
reading]
Introduction to Term Paper + Project
3/31/2012
The National and Local context of ED Strategies
Readings:
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch. 2. (The Influence of National and State Policies on Local Economic Development)
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch 7 (Local Economic Development Strategy)
 Garvin, Alexander (1996) “Ingredients of Success” in The American City: What Works, What Doesn’t.
McGraw Hill [In class reading]
Take Home Mid term given
3/06/2012
Economic Development Tools and Techniques
Readings:
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch 6 (Introduction to Analytical Methods for Local Economic Development Planning)
 Miami-Dade Beacon Council. 2011. One Community One Goal: A targeted community study for Miami Dade
County (Report 1: Community Assessment). Online at
http://www.beaconcouncil.com/webdocs/Foundation/OneCommunityOneGoalCompetitiveAssessment.pdf
[In class reading]
PART 2: STRATEGIES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
3/07/2012
4/13/2012
Strategies for Urban Distress/ Revitalization/ Decay
Readings:
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch. 11 (Community Economic Development)
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch. 12 (Building the Implementation Plan)
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch. 13 (Institutional Approaches to Local Economic Development)
 Halpern, Sue. 2009. Mayor of Rust. New York Times (11 Feb 2011). Online at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/magazine/13Fetterman-t.html [In class reading]
(Also: A Tale of One City case study, http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/a-tale-of-one-cityexamining-urban-decay-and-renewal)
One page abstract of Term Paper topic due
Strategies for Business/ Industrial Development
Readings:
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch. 8 (Locality Development)
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch. 9 (Business Development)
 Blakely and Leigh, Ch. 10 (Human Resource Development)
 Mayer, H. (2009). Bootstrapping high-tech: Evidence from Three Emerging High Technology Metropolitan
Areas. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution. Online at:
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2009/06_metro_hightech_mayer/06_metro_hightech_mayer
.pdf [In class reading]
Take Home Mid term Due
PART 3: COMPONENTS OF IMPLEMENTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
4/14/2012
Implementing ED: Housing Development
Readings:
 Landis, John D. & Kirk McClure. (2010). Rethinking Federal Housing Policy. Journal of the American
Planning Association, 76(3), 319 – 348. Online at:
http://www.informaworld.com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/smpp/content~db=all~content=a922820485
 Blair and Carroll, Ch. 9 (Land Use)
 Blair and Carroll, Ch. 10 (Housing and Neighborhood Development)
Student paper presentations related to this issue
4/20/2012
4/21/2012
4/27/2012
4/28/2012
4/29/2012
Implementing ED: Green Development
Readings:
 Chapple, K., et al. (2011) Innovation in the Green Economy: An Extension of the Regional Innovation
System Model? Economic Development Quarterly 25(1), 5-25. Online at:
http://edq.sagepub.com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/content/25/1/5.abstract
 Richard C. Hula and Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo. (2010). Cleaning Up the Mess: Redevelopment of Urban
Brownfields. Economic Development Quarterly 24(3), 276-287. Online at:
http://edq.sagepub.com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/content/24/3/276.short
 U.S. Global Change Research Program (2009) Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. Online
at: http://GlobalChange.gov.
Student paper presentations related to this issue [Project Dashboard Draft due]
Implementing ED: High Technology Development
Readings:
 Mayer, Heike. (2010). Catching Up: The Role of State Science and Technology Policy in Open Innovation.
Economic Development Quarterly, 24(3), 195-209. Online at:
http://edq.sagepub.com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/content/24/3/195.full.pdf+html
 Florida, Richard (2002) “Transformation of Everyday Life” and “Creative Economy” in The Rise of the
Creative Class
 Kolko, Jed. (2010). Does Broadband Boost Local Economic Development? Public Policy Institute of
California Working Paper. Online at: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_110JKR.pdf.
Student paper presentations related to this issue
CODA: The Local Economy in the Global Context
 Friedman, Thomas (2007), Ch. 1 (While I was sleeping), In The World Is Flat 3.0. Farrar, Strauss and
Giroux. Excerpt at: http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage.aspx?isbn=9780374292782&m_type=1
 Feiock, Richard C., M. Jae Moon, Hyung Jun Park. (2008). Is the World “Flat” or “Spiky”? Rethinking the
Governance Implications of Globalization for Economic Development. Public Administration Review, 68(1),
24-35. Online at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00832_2.x/pdf
 Florida, Richard. (2010). Chapter 1, The Great Reset. New York: HarperCollins. Online at:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Great-Reset/Richard-Florida/e/9780061937194#EXC
Project presentations
Final paper due by midnight through Turnitin.com [ABSOLUTELY NO EXTENSIONS]
Statement on plagiarism
Plagiarism is the representation of another person's words, ideas, and creative work in
general as one's own. This misrepresentation is a breach of ethics that seriously compromises a
person’s reputation. Professional careers have been ruined by revelations of plagiarism. To avoid
plagiarism, researchers and professionals in public, private, or nonprofit organizations must
scrupulously give credit whenever they use another person’s idea, opinion, theory, written or
spoken words, as well as any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings—any pieces of information—that
are not common knowledge. The following rules should be observed to make sure that the
distinction between one's own words, ideas or work, and those of others is justly maintained.
1. Put in quotations everything that comes directly from the text of another’s work,
especially when taking notes.
2. Alternatively, you can paraphrase another person’s work, but be sure you are not just
rearranging or replacing a few words. A good strategy is to (1) read over what you want to
paraphrase carefully, (2) cover up the text with your hand, (3) write out the idea in your own
words without peeking, and (4) check your paraphrase against the original text to be sure you
have not accidentally used the same phrases or words, and that the information is accurate.
3. Whether you quote, paraphrase or otherwise borrow another’s work, always cite or
indicate the source of the information, and provide references following one of the many
accepted styles or formats.
4. Common knowledge such as George Washington’s date of birth or the meaning of OLS
regression need not be quoted, cited, or referenced. However, borrowing another’s original or
creative presentation of common knowledge should follow the abovementioned rules. When in
doubt, follow the rules.
Of course, submitting a paper that is completely the work of another person is plagiarism in
its most extreme form. A student who plagiarizes all or part of an assignment can expect severe
cumulative penalties, ranging from failure in the course to expulsion from the university, with an
annotation of the sanction received on the student’s transcript.
Statement on academic misconduct
Florida International University is a community dedicated to generating and imparting
knowledge through excellent teaching and research, the rigorous and respectful exchange of
ideas, and community service. All students should respect the right of others to have an equitable
opportunity to learn and honestly to demonstrate the quality of their learning. Therefore, all
students are expected to adhere to a standard of academic conduct, which demonstrates respect
for themselves, their fellow students, and the educational mission of the University. All students
are deemed by the University to understand that if they are found responsible for academic
misconduct, they will be subject to the Academic Misconduct procedures and sanctions, as
outlined in the Student Handbook.