Community participation and community benefit: A case study of the Boston Enhanced Enterprise Community, 1994--1999

In light of the significant distress in inner city communities, the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Communities Initiative was developed in the 1990's as a policy response targeting assistance to designated disadvantaged zones. Similar to other policy programs before it, a central requirement of this program was the participation of community members in its planning and implementation, and especially in its governance. Yet, in the EZ/EC initiative, the community does not participate as a lone actor. It does so within "community-based partnerships" in which it is expected, per federal requirements, to cooperate with local government, business and other private sector actors to plan and achieve the local zone's goals. The EZ program, therefore, gives the community an equal standing at the initiative table with these actors, along with, theoretically at least, a corresponding balance of power with which to make governing decisions. Business and government representatives, however, also participate to advance their own interests. Thus, a critical question is: To what extent did this coalition of local government, business representatives and community members actually facilitate community participation and community benefits. This research explored this question through a systematic analysis of Boston's Enhanced Enterprise Community (BEEC), a local program of the EZ/EC initiative.;As a framework for analysis, the study conceptualizes the BEEC as an artificially-created regime. Concepts from urban regime theory, amplified by the participation literature, are then applied to illuminate the effectiveness of community participation in the creation of community benefits. A case study research design using qualitative methods of data collection was selected to unravel how decisions were made and who benefited from those decisions. Findings indicate that the BEEC facilitated the involvement of a limited number of community members who participated effectively in the selection of economic development projects, for which decisions had to be made. Substantial barriers restrained the effectiveness of their participation, encompassing, amongst other factors, the lack of sufficient resources (including an organized community base and staff capacity) and the perception and reality of City efforts to influence the process. Nonetheless, some benefits were attained that reflect community interests.