Grappling with governance: the emergence of business improvement districts in a national capital

Business improvement districts (BIDs) constitute a relatively new mode of urban governance in which business and property owners pay surtaxes for collectivized, privatized maintenance and development services in their respective neighborhoods. Although they are typically considered an innovative means of improving urban areas—or at the very least a benign intervention of business owners to draw new consumers—the case of Washington, D.C., shows that BIDs are also an increasingly entrenched neo-liberal institution promoted by state restructuring and interurban competition. Given local conditions, such as a permissive legislative environment and fragmented governance, the proliferation, size, and influence of D.C.’s BIDs pose concerns about institutional accountability, socioeconomic inequality, and sustainability of services. Using a mixed-methods approach that integrates urban governance theory, performance metrics, and interviews with BID and D.C. government officials, this study finds that Washington’s BIDs have promoted revitalization but also pose concerns about limited public accountability, exacerbated socioeconomic and spatial inequalities, and further retreat of the municipal government