We must have strong cities to have a strong America.
Cities incubate new businesses, connect people, ideas, money and markets and house most of our great universities. Their ports and airports connect us to the world. In our increasingly diverse society they are the crucibles for connecting cultures, generating opportunity and renewing the American dream. The metro areas they anchor generate 80 percent of our nation’s employment, 80+ percent of our GNP and produce 86 percent of our tax revenue. What is America without its cities? Only 20 percent of itself.
Yet, urban still equals “bad” in the minds of many Americans and in the stories of the American press. Urban crime is worse than crime. Urban poverty is worse than poverty. Even urban congestion is worse than congestion. We still act like it’s 1968, and our cities are burning. These old attitudes only hold us back. There is so much good and vital and positive about cities and so much potential for even more progress if we as a nation recognize and build on the assets we have in our cities.
It’s time for a new urban agenda that embraces the role of cities as the centers of America’s global prosperity.
That’s why CEOs for Cities exists. With our national network of mayors, corporate CEOs, university presidents, foundation officials and business and civic leaders, we act as an idea lab for cities. It’s our job to take a fresh look at cities and make the most of their assets by building new leadership partnerships around urban innovations.
We help urban leaders understand how people want to live in cities today and translate that into action.
We discover the trends that will affect cities for better or worse, decipher what can be done to respond and develop new innovations to put to work in cities.
The areas in most urgent need of fresh thinking in cities are:
The Talented City:
Developing, maximizing, attracting and retaining talent.
The Innovative City:
Fostering innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Connected City:
Fostering connections that link people with ideas to talent, capital and markets; cities to regions; and regions to the global economy.
The Distinctive City:
Capitalizing on local differences to build local economic opportunity.
Cities performing well on these dimensions are destined for success. Nurturing these aspects of our cities makes us stronger as a nation.
CEOs for Cities is unique in its cross-sector approach to urban issues, its action agenda for urban leaders, and its promotion of the new urban narrative - a story of progress, promise and opportunity for America.
CEOs for Cities was founded in 2001 by Paul Grogan, author of Comeback Cities and President of the Boston Foundation. Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, Dr. Eugene Trani, President of Virginia Commonwealth University, and Charles Ratner, CEO and President of Forest City Enterprises are co-chairs. CEOs for Cities is funded by contributions from its network members and the generous support of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation the Rockefeller Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust and the Hyde Family Foundations. For more information, go to www.ceosforcities.org or contact us at ceos@ceosforcities.org or 312.553.4630.
Interested in joining? Contact Bridget Marquis at bmarquis@ceosforcities.org.