Growth coalitions in declining cities: casinos, redevelopment, and inter-urban competition

ABSTRACT

Casino development is a popular strategy for urban redevelopment in declining cities. I examine the process of casino acquisition in the former Canadian automotive capital, Windsor, Ontario – one of the first cities in North America, outside of Atlantic City and Las Vegas, to host a resort casino. Drawing on 20 interviews with urban elites and the local news media, I explore the interplay between a local growth coalition and State interests in the development of Casino Windsor. To capture maximum revenue for provincial coffers, provincial interests used competition between economically depressed cities to co-opt the Windsor casino alliance’s project . Windsor’s urban elites, however, continue to “talk” urban entrepreneurialism, perpetuating the myth that municipal entrepreneurialism was an effective strategy for this struggling city. These findings suggest that the importance placed on the entrepreneurial capacity of local growth coalitions in urban redevelopment studies may be misplaced, especially in peripheral and declining cities.

KEYWORDS:

• Growth coalitions
• urban redevelopment
• declining cities
• casinos
• municipal entrepreneurialism
• inter-urban competition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Since the 1970s, municipal governments have become increasingly responsible for their economic development in contrast to the managerial focus – i.e., providing services – of past municipal governments (Harvey, 1989, p. 1).

2. Discourse equals the social construction of reality via its representation (Foucault, 1972). Discourses in themselves generate meanings and are constitutive (Mosedale, 2016; Philo, 2011).

3. Unlike neoliberal ideology, which elevates a free market in the absence of State intervention, neoliberalization engages State power to simultaneously “roll-back” state policies that de-prioritize market logics and to “roll-out” new strategies to enhance private capital accumulation (Brenner, Peck, & Theodore, 2010; Peck & Tickell, 2002). Indeed, State intervention and public dollars continue to spur urban redevelopment (Knapp & Vojnovic, 2013).

4. While some studies do examine growth coalitions and redevelopment in “rustbelt” cities, these cities tend to be archetypes of deindustrialization (i.e., Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, etc.). The centrality of these peripheral cities, particularly their importance in the cultural imagination concerning America’s previous industrial might, likely creates a different set of power dynamics in which local growth coalitions exist.

5. For instance, development alliances on the periphery tend to adopt more modest goals, like a sport stadium, and tend to be initiated by local developers (Barrows, 1990; Wilson, 2004). These projects are promised to bring peripheral cities into the future of the “new economy.”

6. Scholars often prioritize disinvestment when examining declining cities. Nonetheless, capital investment and ongoing capital accumulation continues in declining cities. Such investments are central in shaping decline (Smith, Caris, & Wyly, 2001).

7. This is part of a larger research project containing an additional 71 interviews and 50 logbooks from automotive and casino workers.

8. Pseudonyms are used when referencing interview excerpts. I identify the interviewees’ general professional positions to offer context.

9. Windsor’s proposed casino was based on what was called, “The Manitoba precedent.” The Crystal Casino in Manitoba was the first permanent government-owned casino in the Western Hemisphere. This casino was also created by a provincial NDP government.

10. In 2017, this would be an annual income of $64,517 CAD.

11. The Finance Minister announced his support for the casino in the April 1992 provincial budget.

12. When the government announced Windsor had been selected for the pilot project, the Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations said Windsor was chosen because it was the hardest economically hit of Ontario’s border communities. The large population in the Detroit area, from which the casino could draw visitors, was also cited (The Sault Star, 1992).

13. The provincial government announced a private operator would manage the Windsor casino on March 13, 1993.

14. In addition, Casino Windsor also directed $300,000 annually to Windsor’s Downtown Business Improvement Association (BIA). This ended in 2014.

Additional information

Funding

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the McGill University for the Study of Canada provided support for this research.