What we can learn from these cases
Niagara Region United States and Canada

First, there are a variety of ways to put the puzzle together organizationally. But a combination of strong institutional base and robust cooperation seems a must.

Second, successful regions are “going with the flow”of economic restructuring, environmental repair, care for places, and attention to stories.

Third, we have an embarrassment of riches. The Niagara Frontier has all it needs to put these cases in the shade.

A Range of Organizational Modes

Each of the three cases presented relies on a different organizational mode, institutional structure, and political process. Taken together, they suggest there is no simple recipe for doing these kinds of projects.

Los Caminos del Rio uses an unusual bi-national not-for-profit corporation as the organizational center of their effort. But they also rely on the substantial financial and institutional power of state govern­ment on one side of the border, federal government on the other, and the willing cooperation of municipal governments up and down the Rio Grande.

In Germany, where the state is strong and public leadership still honored, government used the building exhibition format to focus and amplify the use of existing aid and investment streams on the project of regional restructuring. But the approach seems to have been anything but heavy handed. The IBA worked closely with local governments, invited citizens to participate, and made public-private partnerships to get things done.

In New England, the lead agency seems to have taken an even lighter touch. The Commission does represent the federal government, but they have been loathe to throw their weight around. Instead, they use their relatively modest resources to leverage the investments of other players, public or private. In their core business -- telling the story -- they work hard to involve local governments and communities. In the bigger picture busi­ness of preserving the assets of the valley from the pressures of development they only whisper the word “planning,” but they do say it.