Brother, can you spare some time? Sustaining prosperity and social inclusion in America's metropolitan regions. (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Benner, Chris; Pastor, Manuel
• Other Names: Wilkinson Cathy guest-editor.; Parnell Sue guest-editor.; Beilin Ruth guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Urban studies. Volume 52:Number 7(2015:May)
• Page Start: 1339
• Page End: 1356
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: economic growth -- growth spells -- regional equity -- resilience -- social inclusion; Cities and towns -- Periodicals; City planning -- Periodicals; 307.1216
• DOI: 10.1177/0042098014549127
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0042-0980

Abstract

Understanding the factors and processes that help regions sustain economic growth has become a topic of increasing interest in recent years. We examine factors associated with the length of 'growth spells' for the 184 largest regions in the United States from the period 1990–2011. We find that growth duration is positively related to a number of factors one might expect, including lower levels of reliance on manufacturing and a higher proportion of the population with middle education levels. However, we also find that the length of growth spells is strongly related to lower levels of metropolitan income inequality and to measures of social and spatial segregation, suggesting that more equitable and more integrated regions are better able to sustain growth.