A foundation for sustainable local economies

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This is the second in a series of columns by Jane Turville who is thinking about these issues for a documentary film she’s making about historic preservation and sustainable economies. Her first installment was, “New jobs, old bricks and the triple bottom line.”

What makes your business competitive? Is it your product? Your service? The price you charge? Most likely it is a combination of all three. But if you are pursuing long-term sustainability, another factor comes into play. Differentiation. Somehow your product or service must be unique, different from other similar products and services. It is this difference that gives your business an economic edge. Maintaining this economic edge is key to long-term sustainability.

What is true for businesses is also true for communities. Regardless of its size, to be economically sustainable a community has to be competitive on not only a regional scale, but a global scale. Unlike businesses, communities don’t have one or two specific products or services to differentiate themselves. So, in a globally competitive world, what can communities do to stand out and create sustainable, competitive local economies?

There are of course many things communities can do. But in pursuing sustainable options, communities often overlook two invaluable resources that instantly provide the foundation for differentiation. They overlook their natural setting and their built heritage.

Traditionally, settlements were located near natural areas that allowed groups to thrive both socially and economically. Usually on rivers, defensive bluffs, or places where food was plentiful and easy to obtain. A majority of these settlements grew because of their proximity to natural settings and resources that allowed their economy to grow and thrive. The same can be said of a community’s buildings. Traditionally, they were built to accommodate a growing economy based on the natural resources available in that specific place. Historically, there has always been this partnership between natural heritage and built heritage.

So what does this partnership have to do with economic competition and sustainability? The answer is simple: Natural setting and built heritage make a community unique. In turn, a community’s unique qualities create differentiation. Awareness of the combined natural setting/built environment partnership can be used to realize a community’s competitive advantage. By optimizing this partnership communities create a unique, recognizable place that allows people to connect with them.

Please note: We’re not talking about tourism as a primary economic strategy here. We’re talking about quality of place as an economic force.

Again, what does this have to do with economic sustainability? Connection to place is key to building local economies that can compete globally. And, it is important to understand, connection to place plays a much more significant role today than it did for most of the past 60 years. Why? Because for the first time in the past 60 years, the average American is “locationally neutral.” Unlike the American workforce of the past, today’s workforce is much more mobile. Less than 15% of jobs in America are place-dependent. In essence, people and jobs can be located anywhere. A 2008 Pew Research study indicated that, for the first time in 70 years, the rate at which Americans are relocating has slowed down. Technological advances and significant changes in the kind of jobs available make it possible for Americans to live anywhere. Americans are choosing to locate in communities that offer a quality of life that they can’t find elsewhere.

This is where the partnership of natural setting and historic buildings comes into play. Together they create the unique character that makes each community different from any other place. By optimizing this partnership, communities use existing entitities intrinsic to their community as the foundation for differentiation. While many factors attract individuals and businesses, communities that recognize the partnership between their natural heritage and their built heritage and are optimizing this partnership to differentiate themselves have a head start in creating long term sustainable economies that can compete in a global marketplace.

Filmmaker Jane Turville is currently producing “Conserving Our Future: The Role of Historic Preservation in Building a Sustainable Society” in partnership with The Natural Step Network. To learn more, please visit www.conservingourfuture.org.