Challenges for community economic development in distressed urban neighborhoods: A case study of the Philadelphia Empowerment Zone

Conventional local economic development (LED), managed by local authorities, financial institutions, and developers, has not proven capable of addressing the economic problems of distressed urban neighborhoods. Community economic development (CED) is an alternative community-based approach yet there is a want of empirical research to demonstrate its feasibility and effectiveness in these communities. This study explored the challenges of CED strategies in the Philadelphia Empowerment Zone, one of the programs of the federal Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community initiative. By developing a conceptual framework as an analytical tool, it examined the different factors that impacted CED implementation. Using case study methodology, qualitative and descriptive quantitative data were collected from 87 semi-structured interviews of key informants, program reports, administrative data, and participant observation of community meetings. The data were coded and analyzed, using pattern matching, historical analysis, and triangulation techniques. The findings demonstrated that the participating communities attempted to design and implement CED strategies with considerable difficulty. The data indicated that the community processes, which included empowerment, social networks and social integration, had a significant effect on the ability of the participating communities to implement CED strategies. Where these community processes were lacking or inadequate, community representatives faced major challenges for planning and implementing their CED projects. The LED environment also affected CED efforts by directly or indirectly preventing valuable resources and appropriate technical assistance from reaching the communities and influencing the attitudes and commitment of the community regarding CED. Given the multiple supportive relationships between the different community processes and CED strategies, the findings suggested the need for a comprehensive approach that programmatically integrates these various components. Due to the inherent conflicts and tensions produced by government-controlled community-based efforts, this research also proposes that future CED programs should be developed and controlled by the communities themselves, receiving only financial aid, technical assistance, and other forms of support from the government. The study finally discusses a future research agenda for CED, including cross-case and cross-program comparisons as well as outcome evaluations