america inside out

London School of Economics urbanologists have put together a short how-to for post-industrial cities to avoid complete obsolescence during the recession. Tracing the recent histories of Bremen, Bilbao, St. Etienne and four other formerly decrepit European burgs, the authors of A Tale of 7 Cities emphasize three fundamental steps cities need to follow to achieve urban renaissance: make high-tech often green investments, recruit workers laid off from failed industries and establish rock-solid mass transit networks. As the recession sinks its teeth into American cities like Toledo, Cincinnati and Buffalo--places that have only recently begun to rediscover their urban cores-- planners may wish to heed European models as blueprints. For specific ideas, reading is available at Germany’s Werkstatt-Stadt project which catalogs 156 of the country’s most innovative antidotes to the exurbs. And for the manpower, Sheffield’s JOBMatch provides the links from the dole to employment–an effort not unlike Van Jones’ Green For All on this side of the pond. When he sat down with Big Think, he expalined how the US could recruit a corps of disadvantaged and underemployed Americans to kickstart the green-collar economy. Here is Mr. Jones rolling up his sleeves.