Lunchtime Teaching Case Workshop - Bloomberg Center for Cities

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Thursday, November 14

Lunchtime Teaching Case Workshop

An event of the Bloomberg Center for Cities

Thursday, November 14
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Bloomberg Center for Cities, Taubman Third Floor, Harvard Kennedy School

About the Event

For enrolled Harvard graduate students

Help the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative workshop its newest teaching case, taught by Professor Jorrit de Jong. Details are below.

Lunch will be provided after the workshop.

We ask all participants to prepare for the case discussion by reading the materials. Further workshop details and case materials will be provided once registration has closed.

Space is limited. Registration will close when full or by Tuesday, November 12 at noon.

Case: Leveraging the Lakefront: Spurring Inclusive Growth in Cleveland, Ohio through Urban Redevelopment

Case Description: Cleveland’s mayor, Justin Bibb, was elected on promises of revitalizing Cleveland’s downtown and untapped opportunity corridors and addressing social and economic inequity. After decades of failed attempts to redevelop Cleveland’s North Coast into a vibrant waterfront, the newly elected mayor doubled down on waterfront redevelopment as a strategy for Cleveland’s inclusive economic growth. However, the city faced financial constraints and pressing concerns around public safety, police shortages, underperforming schools, and revitalizing the East Side. Meanwhile, the Browns Stadium lease, one of the main North Coast attractions, was up in 2028, and the city and the Browns were locked in stadium negotiations as part of the broader lakefront development approach. The project faced skepticism around its ability to fulfill Bibb’s vision, whether it was the highest priority and best use of funds, and if a revitalized North Coast would generate inclusive growth, attract sufficient people and new businesses, and address racial inequities.

The case chronicles Cleveland’s economic transition from a bustling manufacturing hub to a mid-sized city with its knowledge economy workers largely clustered in nearby suburban counties, as well as how racial disparities were entrenched along geographic (east-west; urban-suburban) and socio-economic lines. It examines the challenges to developing the lakefront, including its purposefully industrial build, how to deal with existing infrastructure like the Shoreway, which cut downtown off from the lakefront, and the cost and financing mechanisms to do so. The case also highlights complementary lakefront development efforts, such as opening up land around the Browns Stadium, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Great Lakes Science Center to mixed-use development that would integrate Cleveland’s existing cultural assets. Bringing to the fore the need for a strong coalition to realize the project, the case also raises the challenges of actualizing inclusive planning to ensure support while maintaining political buy-in from regional and state actors.

Speakers

Jorrit de Jong

Jorrit de Jong

Director, Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University

Jorrit de Jong is director of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University and the Emma Bloomberg Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Management at Harvard Kennedy School. His research, teaching, and engagement with practice focus on the challenges of making the public sector more effective, efficient, equitable, and responsive to social needs.

His scholarly research has been published in academic journals such as Public Administration Review, Cities, Public Management Review, Administration & Society, Stanford Social Innovation Review, International Journal of Public Administration, and the Journal of Public Health Management and Policy. A specialist in experiential learning, Jorrit has taught strategic management and public problem-solving in degree courses and executive education programs at Harvard and around the world.

Since 2016, Jorrit has been director and faculty co-chair of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, a joint program of Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School, funded by and executed in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies. Over 300 mayors and their senior teams have participated in this year-long program designed to help cities tackle pressing problems.

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