Chapter 8: Strengthening Local Economies

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-Mark Roseland with Lena Soots

The wealth of a nation depends in large measure on the economic health of its cities. Strong local economies are the foundation of strong communities that can grow and withstand the pressures created by an increasingly urbanized world. And strong communities require a holistic approach that not only provides the traditional deliverables of economic development—jobs, income, wealth, security—but also protects the environment, improves community infrastructure, increases and develops local skills and capacity, strengthens the social fabric, and respects heritage and cultural identity.

While individual actions and lifestyle choices, such as buying organic produce, are important personal contributions, strengthening local economies requires a collective shift in individual actions and political choices. The cooperative economy of Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, Vancity Credit Union in Vancouver, the Women’s International Sewing Cooperatives of Nueva Vida, and the campaigns for local trade across North America are all examples of the potential of community mobilization to help strengthen local economies.

Strong local economies give communities the capacity and resources to address specific and immediate problems such as the provision of health care, adequate housing, clean water and sanitation, and disaster prevention and response. Human settlements—large and small, rich and poor—need strong local economies to withstand the pressures created by an increasingly urbanized world.

Mark Roseland is Director of the Centre for Sustainable Community Development (CSCD) and a professor in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Lena Soots is a researcher at the CSCD.