Cities have always represented crucibles of innovation and wealth creation, but also inequality and resistance. In this context, the recent trend in U.S. cities to adopt progressive economic policies like local minimum wages, paid time off and inclusionary hiring has been widely celebrated but poorly understood. Changes in the structure and character of local economies, shifts in organizing strategies in favor of intersectional economic and racial justice coalitions, and tactical innovations in how justice networks incubate and propagate policy ideas have all played critical roles. These shifts have taken place in spatially uneven ways, but they are not constrained to the usual roster of progressive cities, nor are they only capable of operating at the local scale. Ever present political and economic headwinds render the outcomes of specific elections or policy battles contingent and uncertain, yet I argue that we have moved durably “beyond the city limits” toward a future where justice organizers, planners, and elected officials expand their thinking about local economies in ways that create space for more equitable directions.
Dr. Greg Schrock is an Associate Professor in the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, where he currently serves as School Director. His scholarship focuses on labor market and workforce development policy, urban manufacturing and production economies, and planning for inclusive and equitable development. He is the co-author of Justice at Work: The Rise of Economic and Racial Justice Coalitions in Cities (2022, University of Minnesota Press, with Marc Doussard). He holds a doctorate in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
