Amanda Ashley, an associate professor in the School of Public Service, co-authored the book “Salvaging Community: How American Cities Rebuild Closed Military Bases,” which recently was published by Cornell University.
American communities face serious challenges when military bases close, but affected municipalities and metro regions are not doomed.
Taking a long-term, flexible and incremental approach, Ashley and co-author Michael Touchton from the University of Miami make strong recommendations for collaborative models of governance that can improve defense conversion dramatically and ensure benefits, even for low-resource municipalities. Their interdisciplinary research shows that communities can’t control their economic situation or geographic location, but communities can control how they govern conversion processes geared toward redevelopment and reinvention.