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A GUIDE FOR STUDENTS

This site is intended to assist graduate students in urban and regional planning better understand the field of economic development as an area of professional focus. It discusses the kinds of skills and knowledge that effective practice in the field demands, the course options available at UIUC to build those skills, and the academic units and faculty on campus engaged in relevant research, teaching and outreach activities. The goal is to help students make an informed choice about specializing in economic development in their MUP program, as well as help them better prepare to enter the job market.

Non-MUP graduate students and undergraduates in fields such as economics, business, geography, agricultural and consumer economics, political science, law, and journalism may also find the site helpful as a guide to courses, faculty, and on-campus activities relevant to the general topic of regional economic development.

Using the Site

Read this page in full first. It provides a brief overview of the field and the kinds of jobs that urban planners with a specialization in economic development are qualified to obtain. Then see the Course Tracks and Course Options pages for guidance on which classes to take to build a solid base of expertise in the field. The Faculty & Labs page provides links to faculty and research laboratories engaged in economic development-related research and outreach activities. Also, see the Regional Science @ UIUC website for more information about faculty, research and labs in the general area of regional science.

The Field in Brief

Professionals in the field of economic development design and implement strategies aimed at strengthening the short- and long-run economic performance and prosperity of cities and regions. They work to redress problems of local and regional economic distress, unemployment, and poverty, as well as to ensure--through the workings of a viable local economy--sufficient public sector revenues to finance community services such as schools, roads, parks, public safety and affordable housing.

Early approaches to local economic development in the United States emphasized a kind of boosterism, the marketing and "sale" of the community to relocating firms, potential investors, tourists and residents. Modern versions of thie booster approach join active place marketing campaigns with the use of financial inducements to attract relocating firms. The use of business location incentives (tax breaks, cash grants, etc.) by cities and states, while very common, is highly controversial. It is the focus of much academic research as well as policy debate.

Today, best practice in economic development begins by understanding the factors that drive economic growth and change in a particular region and then formulates strategies that aid the process and distribute the benefits more widely. Increasingly, the focus is on innovation as the primary driver of economic development in the long run, and especially its spatial characteristics and the role of local institutions in supporting it. Many cities and states have formulated extensive technology-based economic development strategies, usually in concert with more traditional economic development approaches. The focus on innovation has led to a greater emphasis on how the sustained health of the local economy depends on other local concerns, such as education, environmental quality, cultural amenities and quality of life, and urban design.

Disciplinary Differences

A major factor differentiating how various disciplines approach the topic is the geographical scale of focus. Economic development as taught in the discipline of economics focuses on national-level trends, theory and issues, usually with an emphasis on newly industrializing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, as well as transitioning economies in post-Soviet east central Europe. Cross-national and comparative research is common. In contrast, state, local and regional economic development--usually taught within professional schools and departments of planning and public policy--focuses on economic theory, policy and practice at various levels below the nation-state (cities, metropolitan areas, rural communities, and multi-state regions) in the United States and abroad.

Career Tracks

Students with a masters degree in urban planning and specialized training in the area of economic development may pursue a variety of professional tracks. Different tracks often reflect academic sub-specialities in the field. They also may overlap with related fields such as community development, housing, and transportation.

Relationship to Community Development

There is considerable overlap between the fields of economic development and community development, as manifested in the emerging field of community economic development. The two fields are often distinguished by their geographical focus (economic development at the metropolitan or regional scale and community development at the neighborhood level) or by their most common units of analysis or policy intervention. In economic development, the latter is frequently firms or industries. In community development, the policy or program focus is often the individual or family. Such distinctions, however, are valid only in very general terms. Anyone interested in pursuing a career in local and regional economic development should also acquire knowledge of community development issues and interventions, along with other areas of planning practice, including transportation, land use, and real estate.