The University as Urban Anchor

The University as Urban Anchor investigates the role of the academy in the city—not just its educational contributions, but also the political, economic, and social development of the urban experience. Urban higher educational institutions provide a surprisingly significant range of contributions to cities. For instance, U.S. city-based universities are a $400+ billion annual operation, employing approximately 3 million people and enrolling 15 million full and part-time students. In at least two major U.S. cities, Philadelphia and Baltimore, the biggest employer is a university (U Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins). Clearly this is a phenomenon worth close examination.

David Perry’s innovative book provides the theoretical framework and historical development of the city-university collaboration. Domestic and global case studies of urban development are used to illustrate this partnership. Readers will come away from this volume with a clear picture of "lessons learned" and best practices for both cities and universities.