Recent pronouncements indicate there may be good news on the horizon for builders who have been plagued by the subprime mortgage meltdown, slow sales and softening prices. Only history will tell if the espoused optimism for 2009 is correct. We do not, however, have to wait till then to see community success today. The Intelligent Community Forum announced last month its list of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year, each a model for economic development in the 21st Century, at PTC'08 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Each provide broadband technologies and secure local government support as the engines for community growth.
"Gaining a place among the Top Seven is a major achievement as well as a step toward even greater recognition for communities working to create prosperity and social inclusion," the ICF said. "For the first time, the Top Seven included three American communities, plus three from the rest of the world that were named to the list a second time."
Listed in alphabetical order, the 2008 Top Seven are:
1. Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. This former industrial center known for "jute, jam and journalism" has transformed itself through intensive government-academic-business collaboration and broadband deployment into a UK center for life sciences and digital media. An innovative smart card for citizens was so successful that the Scottish Government asked Dundee to run its national program. With rising net job growth and business starts, Dundee has created a Digital Observatory to track its future progress as an Intelligent Community. (Top Seven 2007)
2. Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. This community of 50,000 was a broadband "have not" until the City Council led an effort to aggregate public-sector, university and business demand and created e-Novations, its own fiber carrier, then launched the Fred-eZone wireless network offering free connectivity across the city. Today, Fredericton contains 70 percent of the province's knowledge-based businesses and is using ICT to substantially reduce its carbon footprint.
3. Gangnam District, Seoul, South Korea. With only 2.5 percent of Seoul's population, this district produces 25 percent of the city's economic activity, and has invested its wealth in the next generation of e-government. Since 1995, a relentless digital drive has reduced the cost of government while delivering online services, education, quality of life programs and e-democracy to citizens. Over 70 percent of citizens have received ICT training through schools, community centers and a TV GOV program. (Top Seven 2007)
4. Northeast Ohio, USA. The communities of this region are rising from the ashes of deindustrialization to recreate the entrepreneurial business, political and social culture that produced its first wave of prosperity. A successful fiber network deployment by OneCommunity has been leveraged by government and nonprofits to jumpstart new investment, improve healthcare delivery, bring the best in culture and education to urban schools, and engage tens of thousands of area leaders in collaboration over regional economic development.
5. Tallinn, Estonia. A suggestion by Estonia's president in 1995 that schools be connected to the Internet led to an ICT revolution that has linked 100 percent of Tallinn's secondary schools to the Web and established over 600 public access points. More than 100,000 adults have received ICT training, while e-government programs have produced one of the most advanced smart card systems in Europe and a middleware program that slashes the costs of e-government. It was not until 2004 that the last Russian troops left the country, yet today, Tallinn receives 77 percent of all foreign direct investment into Estonia and seven out of ten in its workforce are in the service sector. (Top Seven 2007)
6. Westchester County, New York, USA. This suburb of New York City was largely ignored by broadband carriers until it amassed demand from public agencies and built a multi-gigabit fiber network that now serves over 3,500 companies. Determined to maintain the quality of life that is its most compelling advantage, the county has invested in promoting business growth, improving the skills of its workforce and fighting digital exclusion in a community that has seen new immigrants become 35 percent of its population.
7. Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. Powerful government-business-academic collaboration led by Wake Forest University permitted this former "tobacco capital" to build a fiber network that spurred demand and led to an 88 percent broadband penetration rate. The partners have used this digital foundation to develop free computer labs across the region, create an e-government portal that is number three in the nation, and build a sustainable ICT skills training program. The city and county now count 37,000 biotech employees as residents and will fund a program to put Pcs and broadband connections into the homes of low-income students.
"No Intelligent Community we have studied has succeeded without strong leadership. Effective leaders identify challenges, set priorities, communicate a compelling vision and foster a sense of urgency about achieving it. They establish a collaborative environment that encourages risk-taking and creates win-win relationships with partners in government, businesses and institutions," added ICF Chairman, John G. Jung. "This group of seven demonstrates dramatically how broadband technology, enlightened public policy and the power of culture can transform government, businesses and citizens. Broadband is the next essential utility, as vital to prosperity as clean water and good roads. These communities offer us inspiring models of the best ways to put it to work."
In related news, Forbes.com recently announced its "blue chip" neighborhoods, those communities where properties have held on to and increased in value over the last 17 years. More specifically, it listed the markets in the country's 15 largest metros which show the greatest total historical appreciation since 1990. They are: New York, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Boston, Seattle, and Minneapolis. For a more detailed description of each market, go to Forbes.com.
Knowing where the hot markets are, and learning why real estate consumers gather there, can be the difference between success and future in the dynamic new home building industry. These two organizations offer some interesting insights into real estate consumer needs and behaviors builders can learn from and perhaps adjust to as we move toward a more hopeful 2009.
[Note: ICF (www.intelligentcommunity.org) is a nonprofit think tank that conducts research, hosts events, offers tours of Intelligent Communities, publishes newsletters and presents awards to promote best practices in economic and social development.]
