Urban Renewal?
The Fairmount Corridor project revealed a central tension in community development: Community-based organizations both enhance and undermine democracy. A Research article from the Fall 2019 issue.
Cities - Articles
Social innovations that improve the health and resiliency of cities (more)
Inside Switzerland’s Radical Drug Policy Innovation
A look at how Switzerland radically and successfully changed its approach to drug policy following a heroin epidemic in the late 1980s and 90s, and what the effort teaches us about the social innovation process.
Making Places for Everyone — With Everyone
Placemaking strategies can improve city life, but they must be used equitably and ensure community involvement. This is the sixth of 10 articles in a special series about diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Clarifying Community Benefits to Improve Place-Based Programs
Place-based development incentive programs like Opportunity Zones in the United States and Enterprise Precincts in Australia need a robust framework to meaningfully identify and measure public benefits and the delivery of them. The Net Community Benefit Methodology can help.
In Defense of Neighborhood Trusts
Readers of a recent article on neighborhood trusts raised a number of objections to the author's proposal for revitalizing distressed urban communities.
Bolder Goals, Bigger Breakthroughs
Nonprofits that set their sights higher can achieve more.
Safe Spaces for Users
Project Solidify, a collaborative two-year-long effort started by the European Forum for Urban Security, aims to assist in the implementation and sustainability of supervised injection sites throughout Europe.
Poorer Neighborhood, Fewer Charities
Lower-income communities have stronger need for nonprofits but struggle to attract and sustain them.
SSIR’s 2018 Social Innovation Reading List
Highlights of this year’s book reviews and excerpts on issues including women’s inequality, sustainable leadership, and the hypocrisy of elite philanthropists.
Excerpt
How San Francisco Became a ‘Silicon City’
Cary McClelland's new book, Silicon City, documents the transformation of San Francisco in the digital age.