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In his policy brief, ICIC Senior Vice President and Director of Research Howard Wial presents his fundamental principles to guide investments in Opportunity Zones.
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Our mission at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City is to drive economic prosperity in America’s inner cities through private sector investment to create jobs, income and wealth for local residents.
Founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City is a national nonprofit research and advisory organization and the leading authority on U.S. inner city economies and the businesses that thrive there.
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Inner cities are rich with opportunity. We help business, government and philanthropic leaders leverage local assets to transform communities. Our research and advisory team has helped to shape economic development strategies in more than twenty inner cities.
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What is an Inner City?
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They are distressed urban areas of concentrated poverty and unemployment. Take a peek at our rigorous definition of inner cities.
Inner city residents represent 10% of the population—that’s 32 million people. Nearly a quarter of the population living in poverty live in the inner city. Inner cities represent 16% of U.S. unemployment, 22% of U.S. poverty, and 32% of U.S. minority poverty.
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Blog
What It Will Take for Opportunity Zones to Create Real Opportunity in America’s Economically Distressed Areas
The Opportunity Zone program is the nation’s latest public policy attempt to encourage private investment in America’s economically distressed areas. In his policy brief, ICIC Senior Vice President and Director of Research Howard Wial argues that Opportunity Zones will benefit distressed communities only if investors, local governments, community organizations, and other organizations with a stake in the economic progress of low-income communities abide by four fundamental principles to guide investments in the zones. Read More