Leveraging Anchor Institutions for Urban Success

How can cities turn traditional urban amenities into new urban assets that "contribute significantly to urban success?" That's the question we set out to answer with CEOs for Cities members and national experts when we convened in San Jose for our National Meeting on "Leveraging Anchor Institutions for Urban Success" in May. What resulted was a rich discussion that yielded a wide range of strategies that many anchor institutions have employed, as well as identification of the "common principles that emerged across institution types." These discussions were the basis for a white paper circulated among attendees, many of whom offered invaluable feedback, which was incorporated into the final paper. Inspired by the first piece of research released by CEOs for Cities produced by Dr. Michael Porter, titled "Leveraging Colleges and Universities for Urban Economic Revitalization," this new research expands that thinking to apply it to community colleges, parks, libraries, performing arts centers, museums, hospitals and sports teams.