Zeitschrift für Evaluation: Issue Business-Improvement Districts

Evaluations in urban development policy have a certain tradition. But evaluations of innovative instruments based on the engagement of private actors are rare. In Germany, since almost two decades experiences are collected with the instrument of Business-Improvement Districts (BID) that transferred from Northern America. The aim of the article is a contribution of evaluation research to the discussion of the instrument. The comparative evaluation of two BIDs in Hesse (Gießen and Offenbach) demonstrates, that this instrument has a lot of preconditions. There is the need of a core of sufficiently engaged actors from retail and landowners, which can be stabilized and extended with the help of this instrument. In contrast, for inner cities with very large problem areas, this instrument seems less suitable. There is the need of a supplement by conventional instruments of public urban development policy. This differentiated balance of the instrument is a showcase for the limits of an urban development policy orientated towards private activities.

Keywords
Business-Improvement Districts, Core City Development, Privatisation, Hesse