Metropolitan Governance and Business Improvement Districts

This chapter argues that business improvement districts (BID) constitute a particularly apt exemplar of the expanding scope of the public administration problem, which forces to rethink the distinctions drawn between the public and private realms and the traditional definitions of accountability. It shows that what set BIDs into motion were the enlightened self-interest of business owners and their traditionally powerful roles in urban political economy. Governments continued to make investments in building the infrastructure and making large-scale capital investments and improvements in urban areas. The laws governing BID creation and termination give local governments some authority over BIDs, but the laws are only part of the story. The ambiguity is partly caused by the variations in the legal statuses granted to BIDs in different states. BIDs are criticized for potential violations of the democratic rights of a variety of groups in metropolitan areas, including residents and their own members.