Sustainable Development in the Urban Region: A focus on revitalization -
An investigation of economic redevelopment issues in Columbus, Ohio and Dresden, Germany

Professors

Assistant Professor Jennifer Evans-Cowley
289A Brown Hall
E-mail: cowley.11@osu.edu
Voice: 247-7479
Fax: 292-7106

Professor Dr. Bernhard Mueller (Technical University, Dresden, Germany)

Dr. Olaf Schmidt (Technical University, Dresden, Germany)

Andreas Otto (Technical University, Dresden, Germany)

Assistance from the Planning Departments of the City of Dresden

Course Overview

This year's Dresden exchange seminar will focus on Sustainable Development in the Urban Region: A focus on revitalization - An investigation of economic redevelopment issues in Columbus, Ohio and Dresden, Germany.

The idea is to focus on that arise as development and employment change. The U.S. has a modern tradition of providing economic development incentives in order to accommodate growth in employment; we have grown outward rather than focusing on opportunities in the urban core. In so doing, many agricultural and natural areas have been devoured in favor of subdivisions, strip malls, and highways.

The German development tradition has been historically different, though some sprawled development has begun on the outskirts of urban areas. Eastern Germany experienced closures of industries during the reunification and is seeking out opportunities to bring in new businesses to the community. Issues of how to keep downtown areas active remain critical as well, especially for urban residents, the elderly, the poor, the young, and those lacking personal automobiles. Finally, considerations of the environmental impacts associated with commercial and industrial development are being considered.

We want to explore the relationships that cities in the U.S. and Germany have in order to promote regional sustainable development. In so doing, we will examine various innovative approaches that have been employed such as revenue sharing, growth boundaries, tax increment financing as well as policy considerations of American zoning and German regional planning.

We have the unusual opportunity of working electronically with a seminar at the Technical University of Dresden (TUD) during the spring quarter and then completing our work in the field by visiting Dresden in June and hosting our German colleagues in Columbus in August. The class will be conducted in English or, when German is necessary, with a translator.

The course is international in scope and, though we are in our 7th year, it remains somewhat experimental in nature. Consequently we need to be as flexible as possible to take advantage of opportunities or to work around problems as they arise. This syllabus describes my best estimate of our situation. Please feel free to suggest changes or other ways of doing things.