THE GROWTH GAME: THE REDEVELOPMENT OF LIBERTY HARBOR (ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY POWER STRUCTURE; NEW JERSEY)

How are economic development decisions made in a depressed industrial city? How do interest groups influence land use and the planning process? Do growth coaltions form and are they opposed? Who prevails? Does such conflict alter the planning process? Arrange the land market? Such questions are important for city planners, for political scientists, and for urban economists.;The research contains a case study of Liberty Harbor, an abandoned three thousand acre site located in the heart of the Port of New York at Jersey City, New Jersey. The original development and subsequent decline of the waterfront is traced historically and the context of redevelopment planning is established. The case study examines the promulgation of a renewal plan and a zoning code and map. Attempts to later alter the plan and the code to permit petrochemical facilities stimulated four episodes of intense community conflict betwen 1973 and 1977. The epilogue assesses the effects of the struggles on the planning process to 1983.;The research procedures include the direct observation of events as they unfolded, supplemented by the voluminous public record. Interviews were conducted during and after the events. The research procedures reinforced each other, providing rich sources of information.;Interest groups emerged, formed coalitions both for and against growth, and engaged in protracted struggle. Real estate, industry, labor, and local and state government promoted growth, but it was the mayor who initiated and managed growth through city agencies. Environmentalists, civic leaders, and neighborhood groups formed an oppositional coalition which matured over time. The media and the city planners joined no alliance but were significant adversaries of the proposed land use changes.;The fate of Liberty Harbor became an important political issue, embroiled the mayor, and contributed to his political demise. Subsequent mayors either sided with the anti-growth advocates or incorporated them into the planning process. An emergent civic movement influenced the character of economic redevelopment at Liberty Harbor. The study contributes a detailed investigation of the growth game as it unfolded.