Dive Brief:
- While challenges to harmonious university-community relations are many, mixed-use developments that revitalize community spaces and benefit both groups are an option.
- University Business reports higher education planners should pay attention to underutilized space that could potentially provide an opportunity for both the university and surrounding community. The article suggests institutions focus on dynamic neighborhood development that creates walkable areas to attract faculty and benefits the local economy, as well as minding community needs like affordable housing.
- Forging connections with local businesses benefits economic development as well as higher education research, and structured public-private partnerships can offer financial incentives to working together toward a shared vision.
Dive Insight:
Many higher education institutions are under significant strain because of finances, cybersecurity threats, negative enrollment trends, and more. Forging symbiotic relationships with the neighbors is one way to relax at least some of the tension facing higher education leaders today.
Universities and the communities around them often have competing interests when it comes to land use. Innovative partnerships, however, can result in mixed-use developments that benefit both parties, creating better communities for everyone in them. Exemplary projects include a new urban village with academic, office, retail, hotel, and conference space in a depressed Atlanta neighborhood that was built by the Georgia Institute of Technology, and apartments, retail, restaurant and entertainment space in Columbus, designed by The Ohio State University.
The importance and plausibility of these collaborations isn't limited to large public institutions. Miles College, a small, private liberal arts institution in Fairfield, AL, is collaborating with the city to rebuild abandoned homes as well as build a hotel on campus property. In this instance, Miles President George French has said the college has a responsibility to help the struggling city around it while making a safer, more pleasant environment for Miles students and faculty.