IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i2p925-d1323878.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluating the Economic Sustainability of Two Selected Urban Centers—A Focus on Amherst and Braintree, MA, USA

Author

Listed:
  • Ivan N. Alov

    (Department of Regional Economics and Geography, Faculty of Economics, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow 117198, Russia)

  • Marko D. Petrović

    (Department of Regional Economics and Geography, Faculty of Economics, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow 117198, Russia
    Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SASA, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Alisa M. Belyaeva

    (Department of Regional Economics and Geography, Faculty of Economics, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow 117198, Russia)

Abstract

While the topic of sustainable development has been extensively explored, there is a lack of quantitative assessment of economic sustainability in the scientific literature; moreover, the term is often interpreted with excessive attention to the environment but not socio-economic inequality. In addition, university cities are often considered the most sustainable, although the higher education system in the United States is often criticized for the inequality of access to it among different racial and other groups of the population. This paper adds to the debate about how the concepts of sustainability and economic development relate. Many researchers have noted that they come into conflict with each other because their ultimate goals are fundamentally different: a voluntary limitation of production and consumption in the interests of future generations and, conversely, the pursuit of well-being during our lives. We would like to explore the issue of economic sustainability, which, at first glance, may become a compromise between the two approaches outlined above. So, our study is devoted to exploring the ambiguous concept of economic sustainability, which can add some new knowledge to the understanding of how social, economic, and ecological factors relate to each other in the broader framework of sustainability. For this objective, we analyzed the economic sustainability of the town of Amherst, MA. The city’s top employer and core enterprise is the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with over 32,000 students and almost 2000 staff members. Based on a literature review, a hypothesis was put forward that a university city should have a high level of economic sustainability. To assess economic sustainability, the original methodology based on the US Cities Economic Sustainability Index (USCESI) was developed. It evaluates sustainability in three groups of parameters: society, economy, and ecology. The first group includes the level of racial diversity, the level of education of the population, and the access to medical services. The second group consists of the Gini coefficient by income level, the median cost of housing, and the unemployment rate. The environmental situation is assessed according to the Air Quality Index developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. For comparison, the town of Braintree, MA, was chosen. As a result of the study, the USCESI was calculated for both locations. The analysis showed that both Amherst and Braintree have a high degree of economic sustainability. However, it was revealed that proximity to a significant economic center has a more powerful positive impact on economic sustainability than the location of a large university. In our paper, we proposed a new methodology for measuring economic sustainability with a special focus on inequality as a major problem in American society. The findings provide new knowledge about university cities and debunk the myth that they represent an exception to the general logic of urban development in the United States. A similar approach, with clarification of statistical indicators and a different emphasis, can be applied to other countries where inequality may be the main threat to economic sustainability, not in terms of access to higher education but in other areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivan N. Alov & Marko D. Petrović & Alisa M. Belyaeva, 2024. "Evaluating the Economic Sustainability of Two Selected Urban Centers—A Focus on Amherst and Braintree, MA, USA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-14, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:925-:d:1323878
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/925/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/2/925/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ali Alichi & Mr. Kory Kantenga & Mr. Juan Sole, 2016. "Income Polarization in the United States," IMF Working Papers 2016/121, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Joachim H. Spangenberg, 2005. "Economic sustainability of the economy: concepts and indicators," International Journal of Sustainable Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1/2), pages 47-64.
    3. Guest, Ross, 2010. "The economics of sustainability in the context of climate change: An overview," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 326-335, October.
    4. Mark W. Frank, 2009. "Inequality And Growth In The United States: Evidence From A New State‐Level Panel Of Income Inequality Measures," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(1), pages 55-68, January.
    5. Fitzgerald, Joan, 2010. "Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195382761.
    6. Sebastian Berger & Wolfram Elsner, 2007. "European Contributions to Evolutionary Institutional Economics: The Cases of ‘Cumulative Circular Causation’ (CCC) and ‘Open Systems Approach’ (OSA). Some Methodological and Policy Implications," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 529-537, June.
    7. Swope, Carolyn B. & Hernández, Diana, 2019. "Housing as a determinant of health equity: A conceptual model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rey, Sergio, 2015. "Bells in Space: The Spatial Dynamics of US Interpersonal and Interregional Income Inequality," MPRA Paper 69482, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Dincer, Oguzhan C., 2011. "Trust and schooling in the United States," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1097-1102, October.
    3. Cristiano Perugini & Gaetano Martino, 2008. "Income Inequality Within European Regions: Determinants And Effects On Growth," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 54(3), pages 373-406, September.
    4. R. S. Wall & S. Stavropoulos, 2016. "Smart cities within world city networks," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(12), pages 875-879, August.
    5. Carmen De-Pablos-Heredero & Jose Luis Montes-Botella & Antón García-Martínez, 2018. "Sustainability in Smart Farms: Its Impact on Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-16, May.
    6. Nicola Francesco Dotti & André Spithoven, 2018. "Economic drivers and specialization patterns in the spatial distribution of Framework Programme's participation," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 863-882, November.
    7. Yoann Verger, 2015. "Sraffa and ecological economics: review of the literature," Working Papers hal-01182894, HAL.
    8. Emma Hooper & Sanjay Peters & Patrick A. Pintus, 2021. "The impact of infrastructure investments on income inequality: Evidence from US states," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(2), pages 227-256, April.
    9. Sebastian Doerr & Thomas Drechsel & Donggyu Lee, 2021. "Income inequality, financial intermediation, and small firms," BIS Working Papers 944, Bank for International Settlements.
    10. Kyungmin Kim, 2020. "Income inequality and house prices in the United States: A panel VAR analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(3), pages 2111-2120.
    11. Dierk Herzer & Sebastian Vollmer, 2012. "Inequality and growth: evidence from panel cointegration," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(4), pages 489-503, December.
    12. Lockwood, Benjamin B. & Weinzierl, Matthew, 2015. "De Gustibus non est Taxandum: Heterogeneity in preferences and optimal redistribution," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 74-80.
    13. Bernard Njindan Iyke & Sin‐Yu Ho, 2020. "Consumption and exchange rate uncertainty: Evidence from selected Asian countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(9), pages 2437-2462, September.
    14. Luiza Vigne Bennedetti & Paulo Antônio de Almeida Sinisgalli & Maurício Lamano Ferreira & Fabiano Lemes de Oliveira, 2023. "Challenges to Promote Sustainability in Urban Agriculture Models: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.
    15. Sergio J. Rey, 2018. "Bells in Space," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 41(2), pages 152-182, March.
    16. Zeynab Jouzi & Lauren San Diego & Neil A. Lewis & Tashara M. Leak, 2024. "How Can Transitional Housing Be Improved? Insights from Residents’ Experiences and Perceptions in New York City," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(7), pages 1-16, June.
    17. Kirill Borissov & Stefano Bosi & Thai Ha-Huy & Leonor Modesto, 2017. "Heterogeneous Human Capital, Inequality and Growth: The Role of Patience and Skills," EUSP Department of Economics Working Paper Series 2017/03, European University at St. Petersburg, Department of Economics.
    18. Groves, Allison K. & Smith, Patrick D. & Gebrekristos, Luwam T. & Keene, Danya E. & Rosenberg, Alana & Blankenship, Kim M., 2022. "Eviction, intimate partner violence and HIV: Expanding concepts and assessing the pathways through which sexual partnership dynamics impact health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    19. Markus Erbach, 2021. "Managing the economic sustainability of the Belt and Road Initiative by applying Pragmatic Identity Matching PrIM," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26, December.
    20. Min Zhou & Wei Guo, 2023. "Self-rated Health and Objective Health Status Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: A Healthy Housing Perspective," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-24, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:2:p:925-:d:1323878. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.