Spotlight: Cathy Lin, Director of Research at International Downtown Association
This interview is part of a series of blog posts highlighting prominent members of our Smart Surfaces team. Over the coming months, we will publish interviews with Coalition members as they talk about their work, our environment and the Smart Surfaces mission.
Cathy Lin is Director of Research at the International Downtown Association. She leads in-house research efforts to provide the most up-to-date information about IDA member organizations and the place management industry, including working with the Board of Directors and IDA’s members to strategize research goals and directives. Prior to joining IDA, Cathy was a project manager at the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, and a planner on the strategic research team at the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore. Cathy has a Master in Urban Planning from Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Geography from Northwestern University.
ME: Would you describe your role as Director of Research at the International Downtown Association?
CL: The mission of IDA is to empower place management leaders with knowledge, research, and public policies for creating prosperous city centers, commercial neighborhoods, and livable urban places for all. The research side of IDA is really focused on two fronts. One is to directly support our member organizations and the day-to-day work that they do by identifying best practices data on the latest trends. It could be very technical, operational details, but also research on broader challenges facing our urban districts, like homelessness, housing, inclusion, transportation, changes in retail, etc.
The second front of our research is about communicating the value of downtowns to the wider public audience. That's where our signature research projects are really about trying to quantify the value of downtowns. When everyone thinks of a downtown, they know it's a good place to be, but why is that and why is it so important? Our research also focuses a lot on telling that story about the value of downtowns.
ME: So why are downtowns so important to the vitality of a city?
CL: The downtown is the center point, it's the hub, it's a dense place where so many things happen. And in terms of economic arguments, it's usually the highest job concentration of any city. It's also where there's a huge tax base for property tax, sales tax, etc, all concentrated in a very small area. Any investment in downtowns has the biggest ROI (return on investment), because it's such a small area but it can affect so many people and businesses and properties. Downtown is also important because of its spillover effects to the rest of the city and neighborhood, because downtown is a place where people gather and where everyone from around the community can come and visit. Having a strong downtown is really important to ensure that the neighborhoods and the rest of the city are also strong.
ME: What role do downtown areas play in the fight against climate change?
CL: Downtowns are important to addressing climate change because they are dense, urban places. More people are able to access resources, jobs, housing, transportation, and it's all much more efficient when it's in a small area. When we look also at greenhouse gas emissions per household, those living in downtowns emit less on average than those in the city as a whole. Just by living downtown you're optimizing your carbon footprint.
I think cities and urban place management organizations are a good place to pilot any kind of sustainability infrastructure initiative. A single change downtown is not going to make a huge impact overall, but by piloting something downtown it can really demonstrate to the rest of the city and county why sustainability is so important. And the place management organizations that we represent are really working at the nexus of public and private realms to pilot unique projects and demonstrate their value to the city and to property owners.
ME: IDA advocates for vital and livable urban centers. How do you reconcile factors that may influence vitality and livability with climate concerns?
CL: We want our downtowns to be vibrant places that people want to come to. I think by people valuing the outdoors and open space, by being able to walk to different stores, that's actually encouraging a lot of sustainability principles. We see that walkable urban places are the ones that are growing the fastest, that are attracting both young professionals as well as older generations who want to be able to access many different things in one area. I think our urban districts are moving away from that suburban model of development, away from car dependencies. And the more activity you see downtown is an encouraging sign that people are valuing being able to access and having things available in a denser environment.
ME: What is the role of an organization like IDA in supporting green infrastructure initiatives?
CL: We are just on the beginning front of our sustainability work. We have a sustainability top issues council that's bringing together practitioners from across North America to talk about initial actions for sustainability in their districts. I think that council will give us a better picture of what all of our members are doing and see if there are ways for us to better support them. We’ve also talked about wanting to green the IDA conference, so once we have an in-person conference again, we will think about how to make our conference footprint a little bit more sustainable.
Our role is to really elevate the best practices of the industry. It's about elevating stories, so that more organizations are aware of the kinds of projects that their peers are taking on. By promoting these examples and tracing out lessons that can be applied to all different types of urban environments and organizations, we can make a difference in this challenge.
ME: How does IDA's mission intersect with or complement the Smart Surfaces Coalition’s mission of replacing dark, impervious surfaces with greener alternatives such as urban trees, solar PV, permeable pavements, and green roofs?
CL: I think they overlap in a few different ways. Smart Surfaces will lower the temperatures downtown and help to address some of the urban heat island effect, which will make downtown a place that's easier to be in. That's certainly in line with our goals for making urban centers healthier, livable environments. It's all contributing to the long-term sustainability and resilience of the area by having downtown districts that rely less on non-sustainable energy modes. Smart Surfaces will help our downtowns to grow and continue to attract new residents and businesses by being in line with the latest technologies for sustainability.
ME: What do you foresee as the most major obstacles toward implementing Smart Surfaces or other green infrastructure initiatives in downtowns in the future?
CL: I think the main challenges are getting buy-in from all of the different stakeholders and finding the right project. Another challenge for addressing climate change is that the impacts are so long-term, and decision-makers, often politicians, work on a shorter term. It can be hard to sustain interest in a project that you only see the benefits for later on. Most cities have some kind of sustainability plan, which is good, but a lot of times they're kind of old now, and it's unclear what actions have really changed. I think there's still a little bit of a disconnect, across all the cities that we've worked with, between the city's plan and what's actually been implemented. It will be up to organizations like the Smart Surfaces Coalition to have those conversations with stakeholders, so that they learn about the benefits of Smart Surfaces and other green infrastructure projects, and then actually implement them.
ME: You worked as an urban planner in Singapore. What lessons about downtowns or sustainability have you learned from your international experience that we can apply to the US?
CL: What is different in Singapore versus in the US is that there is only one level of government to deal with, so there’s no city, state, county, and federal coordination required. Singapore is also a small island with basically no natural resources, and throughout its history it has really had to focus on how to optimize what is there. So, I think those limitations and clearer mission apply to everything they do, including sustainability. In Singapore they were much more open to really try to support and pilot new technologies. So being there, what I learned was how government can really play a positive role in supporting new technologies.
But at the same time, the issues are also all kind of the same. How do you create a more livable dense urban environment? How do you reduce dependency on cars? How do you encourage people to use public space in a different way? It's always good to learn from what other countries are doing. IDA has an internationally-focused summit every year, where we work with partners in Singapore, Japan, the UK, South Africa, Germany, and Sweden, and all learn from each other's experiences in place making. There are obviously some cultural differences, but also ideas that we can share across any culture.
ME: Given your background in urban planning, are there any solutions that city governments or other stakeholders should know more about when considering climate policy for their cities?
I strongly believe that cities, living in cities, working in cities, are the most sustainable lifestyle moving forward. I can understand why people want to live further out in the suburbs and have more space, but I firmly believe that cities are most sustainable and they offer the most opportunity. If we can make them more accessible to people of all ages and abilities, these denser environments will be more sustainable long-term for our environment, and for the climate. Any policy that supports increased density and more transit-oriented development will make the biggest impact.
ME: What changes does IDA hope to see in downtowns, both in the next year and long-term, in terms of sustainability and climate action?
CL: Over the next year, I think things are still going to be really tough for our downtowns in terms of the local economy. But longer term, I think the future of downtowns is still really bright. We've seen that people are social and they want to gather, and downtowns are the best places to do that. Once we're through the pandemic, people are going to want to flock to community events, festivals, trying to recapture what was normal before.
As far as sustainability, I think that will become a much bigger issue. We have seen more flooding events downtown. Several of our organizations were also impacted by the wildfires in California this year. We're really starting to see climate events affecting not just further out places, but also the heart of our cities. And when something happens in the hearts of our cities, it affects so many more people. I think the key will be in trying to build coalitions amongst government, academia, nonprofits, and the private sector, to really take a stand on climate change and take actions to address it across all industries and all sectors.