Can our cities learn from New York?
Business Improvement Districts can encourage hyperlocal action by businesses and residents
At the first meeting of the Special Purpose Vehicle for Bengaluru’s Smart City Plan last month, the mayor asked – ‘What is the purpose of the Area Based Development (ABD) boundary requirement in the Smart City scheme?’ Across Smart City plans, the size and location parameters for ABD vary vastly, and seem quite random. Contrast this with another boundary evolving for urban redevelopment -- the Business Improvement District, or BID.
Bryant Park is a 10-acre city park located in the heart of New York . Like the more famous Central Park, it, is considered a Manhattan landmark. This was not always the case. In the 1970s, ridden by incidents of crime, rape, and drug dealings, Bryant Park was notorious. It was popularly known as “Needle Park”.
Attempts to close down the park failed, until a revival was undertaken, led by stakeholders outside government. With initial funding from the Rockefellers, the design and transformation of the park was spectacular. Today, Bryant Park is a jewel in the neighbourhood, a pride of the community and local businesses, boasting vibrant economic activity and land values.
It is now managed by a private not-forprofit company called the Bryant Park Corporation (BPC), financed by private funds , largely from local merchants, property owners, and philanthropists. The project demonstrates the link between the revival of public space, community benefits, and economic interest. At the heart of this transformation is a new kind of public-private partnership -‘Business Improvement Districts’ or BIDS.
A BID is a defined area where local business and property owners pay an additional tax or fee to fund projects . BIDS identify localised goals and shared priorities of the area, without disturbing the larger municipal planning and delivery framework. While the city continues to provide regular services, the BID community allocates funds towards these priorities — capital improvement ones such as waterfronts, public spaces, parks, and public toilets, or improvement in civic services such as traffic control, parking systems, and public safety.
Currently there are over 1000 BIDS across America’s cities. New York itself has over 75, including more than 30% of all retail business, and 50% of all office space in the city. Mayor Bloomberg had this to say about the impact of BIDS, “BIDS represent public-private partnerships at their very best. Time and again, they have proven effective in revitalising neighbourhoods and improving business conditions in commercial districts – injecting vitality into the community.” The idea has gained traction in the UK, Canada and South Africa.
The success of BIDS is because it is a hyperlocal action, led primarily by small businesses and supported by residents. The compactness of BIDS helps find a consensus around local priorities, as well as the best means to achieve these within a reliable timeframe. BIDS create a unique opportunity for leadership and collaboration across the polity – government, business, and citizens – born of enlightened self-interest. Most importantly, they tap into much needed money, skill and management capacities to address civic challenges.
Can BIDS work in India? India’s cities don’t have a hundred thousand problems; they have a hundred problems repeated a thousand times. Each solution must be situationspecific needing local adaptation. What works in Mumbai will not in Meerut (indeed, what works in Chandni Chowk is unlikely to in Lajpat Nagar). Solutions will only be effective when they are locally defined, designed, and implemented. Cities are the wastelands of unkept government promises. With most municipalities starved of funds and all bereft of qualified resources, municipal authorities by themselves cannot solve our problems. BIDS offer credible on-the-ground action for at least some of our pressing challenges.
BIDS don’t work in every location. There must be substantial economic presence of retail and commercial owners to engage in action. But such engagement can release government resources for other deserving areas. From an operational standpoint, the success of BIDS is dependent on well-defined institutional structures, representation and procedures, functioning transparently. It is also dependent upon the buy-in from a majority of residents and local businesses in the area.
BID is neither an idea we can rush to embrace, nor the panacea for all the challenges that our cities face. But it provides cities a much-needed hyperlocal spatial focus and the ability to revitalise neighbourhoods. Hopefully, some smart states will pilot BIDS within the ABD plans of their smart cities.