Universities and Neighborhoods Could Benefit from Each Other

Omar Blaik

In a lecture delivered at West Hall on April 1, Omar Blaik, a leading American expert on urban universities, said there are two-way rewards when universities engage with their host communities, and he provided some tips on how AUB could better tap into its surroundings.

Blaik is the former director of facilities and planning at the University of Pennsylvania and the president and CEO of U3 Ventures, a land-use consultancy for universities. His lecture, entitled "Urban Anchors, Models of Engagement," was organized by the Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR).

AUB President John Waterbury introduced Blaik, crediting him with the inception of the university's Neighborhood Initiative, which was launched in 2007 by a small team of AUBites led by anthropologist and urban architect Cynthia Myntti. The group has been working on understanding the impact of the University on its neighborhood and on Beirut as a whole, seeking to find ways AUB could act constructively to make Ras Beirut a better neighborhood for all its inhabitants.

Waterbury recounted how he met Blaik a decade ago, and since then the two stayed in contact. Waterbury said he was inspired by the transformation Blaik made on the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), which was facing "challenges that are, in many ways, similar to those that AUB needs to address."

In explaining how universities can engage with their host communities, Blaik said: "Most people recognize that universities are part of the narrative of the city, because of their long-standing history. But what is less known is their direct and indirect economic impact." He said universities are often among the largest employers in a given city, are big consumers of energy, goods, and services, and impact real estate markets, in addition to acting as rich sources of arts, culture, and scientific research. "Indeed, decisions that universities make internally have a huge impact on the outside world," he said.
Blaik outlined four models in which institutions could engage with their host communities: by acting as research and learning providers, as urban and real estate planners, as social developers, and as community builders.

Giving examples of the success stories of others, Blaik argued that one of the best ways to improve revenues for both the urban university and its host community is by optimizing the use of physical space in such a way as to create mixed-use retail and residential areas.

Blaik noted that when he joined UPenn in the late 1990s, it had been suffering from the deterioration of its West Philadelphia neighborhood, which had fallen from a middle-and-upper-middle class community to one where crime was common. He also found the university fortifying itself within its campus walls. His solution was to open it up to the community and convince private real estate and retail companies to develop shops that would both benefit the university and the neighborhood. In the end, the university leveraged $700 million in privatized money in order to create a community at the edges of the campus that provided bookstores, cafes, restaurants, hotels, retail shops, and housing for both campus residents and the neighborhoods. As a result, the university built a bridge with its host community and everyone had a stake in making it succeed. "The aim was to improve safety in the community, invest in public education, and integrate the university in the urban fabric."