破產一週年 其他城市能從底特律的破產中學到什麼

One year ago this month, Detroit filed for bankruptcy—the largest U.S. city to take such a step. Since then, Wall Street analysts and the media have focused on how other cities have responded—or failed to respond—to their own pension and health care liabilities. Some have recognized the need to engage unions as partners rather than adversaries, but the broader lesson from Detroit goes far beyond how to avoid bankruptcy.

一年前的這個月，底特律申請了破產，它是迄今爲止美國最大的破產城市。自那時起，華爾街的分析師們和媒體界紛紛關注其他城市是怎樣應對自己的養老金和醫療保險債務的。有些城市已經意識到應該把工會當成合作夥伴而不是敵對力量，但這次底特律留給其他城市的教訓遠遠不止是應該如何避免破產。

Detroit’s predicament has revealed three truths for how other cities can start and sustain a recovery.

對於其他想要開啓或保持復甦進程的城市來說，底特律的困境揭示了三個真相。

On Monday, Detroit retirees voted to accept pension cuts as the city continued to get its financial house in order. As hard as this process may be is, it’s only the beginning. Detroit has demonstrated that cities have to set a platform for growth. Market trends are in cities’ favor: In 2011, big cities in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas grew faster than their suburbs for the first time in nearly a century. This reversal continued in 2012 and 2013, possibly signaling a true shift in preferences.

上週一，爲了穩定財政狀況，底特律的退休人員投票接受了一項旨在削減養老金支出的預案。過程自然十分艱難，但它只不過是個開始。底特律的例子已經表明，城市必須設置一個增長的平臺。目前市場風向站在城市這一邊：2011年，美國東北部都市圈的大城市的經濟增長速度首次超過了郊區，這還是近100年來的頭一回。2012年和2013年也持續了這種反轉的趨勢，或許說明美國的城鄉發展的確出現了倒轉。

Still, city governments need to fix the basics to signal to both businesses and residents that it’s time to stay (or come back) and invest. For Detroit, fixing the basics hasn’t been easy: The city’s water and sewerage department recently cut off thousands of residential and commercial customers for non-payment with neither sufficient warning nor resources fully in place to help low-income households handle their debts. A two-week moratorium on shut-offs was announced Monday so that residents could learn more about how to get help, and there have also been many positive steps forward.

但是，城市政府仍然需要解決一些基本問題，以向企業和居民發出信號，說明留在城市或搬回城市進行投資的時候已經到了。而對於底特律來說，要解決這些基本問題並非易事：該市的給排水部門最近終止了對數千戶居民和商業用戶的服務，原因是他們沒有繳納費用，但是該部門事先並沒有提出充分的警告，也沒有投入充分的資源幫助低收入家庭處理他們的債務。不過週一底特律市又宣佈對這些人暫時恢復供水兩週，以便居民瞭解如何獲得幫助，已經有一些積極的進展。

The city government, for example, gave up control of the neglected (but promising) urban park, Belle Isle, turning it over to state management under a 30-year lease. Through a $185 million bond package, the Detroit Public Lighting Authority is tackling one of the most iconic symbols of the city’s troubles, replacing 55,000 broken streetlights with state-of-the-art LED bulbs. Mayor Mike Duggan has a new effort to stop blight before it starts in Detroit’s healthy neighborhoods by forcing owners to fix up vacant homes and has created a new auction site to find buyers for homes that are vacant or tax delinquent, but still attractive.

比如底特律市政府放棄了對該市貝爾島城市公園的控制權，讓它由州政府託管30年。另外底特律公共照明局（Detroit Public Lighting Authority）雖然身負1.85億美元的鉅債，但還是勇敢地開始着手應對該市最棘手的麻煩之一——將55,000多個破損的路燈換成最先進的LED燈泡。另外爲了不讓市內仍然人丁興旺的社區也陷入荒蕪，市長麥克o杜甘想了一些新法子，比如要求房主修繕空房子，並且建立了一個新的拍賣網站，爲那些空着的或是存在一些稅務問題但仍然有吸引力的房子尋找新買主。

Second, Detroit’s recovery shows that cities are networks, not just governments. As Detroit’s government was struggling with fiscal challenges (and the struggles started long before the bankruptcy filing), civic, business and philanthropic actors were committing billions of dollars into downtown and midtown and supporting a smart plan for the city’s physical and economic future. The M1 rail line, which is expected to begin construction later this month, is emblematic of Detroit’s physical and economic transformation. The bulk of the funding is coming not from the federal, state or local governments, but rather a consortium of companies, philanthropies and other anchor institutions.

其次，底特律的復甦體現出城市是網絡體，而不是靠政府撐起來的。底特律政府一直深陷財政危機（而且早在底特律申請破產之前就已經是這樣了），但是市民、企業和慈善機構還是爲底特律城區投入了數十億美元的資金，並且投資支持了對該市基礎設施建設和經濟前景至關重要的“智能計劃”。M1軌道交通項目將於本月末開始動工，它正是底特律的基礎建設與經濟轉型的象徵，它的大部分資金並非來自聯邦政府、州政府或地方政府，而是來自很多企業、慈善家和其它機構的捐贈。

Similarly, the task force on Detroit’s new innovation district was convened by Mayor Duggan, and will be led by Nancy Schlichting, CEO of the Henry Ford Health System. It will draw on the talents and resources of private, public and civic actors and institutions. A city government can—and must—fix the basics, but it cannot generate economic growth all by itself. It takes a larger group of committed actors to shape a city’s future.

另外，底特律市長杜甘已經專門召集了一個領導小組，研究怎樣開發底特律的創新“特區”，這個小組將由亨利福特健康系統公司（Henry Ford Health System）的CEO南茜o施列丁領導。它將聚合私人和公共部門的人才與資源爲“特區”服務。一個城市的政府可以（並且必須）解決基本問題，但是不可能只靠政府自身帶來經濟發展。塑造城市的未來需要一大羣有志之士。

Finally, every metro area has something worth fighting for, rather than fighting over. The Detroit Institute of Arts brought a fractured region together. Back in 2012, suburban voters agreed to tax themselves to support the museum. The dollar amount per household was small, but the symbolic importance was huge, since it showed that suburbanites saw the DIA as a regional, not just city, asset. When it looked like the DIA’s collection would be dismantled to pay the city’s bills, the DIA itself, philanthropies, businesses, and the state of Michigan created what’s termed the “grand bargain” to shore up the city’s pension fund and thereby save the art.

最後，每個大城市都有一些值得奮鬥而不是爭鬥的東西。底特律藝術館（Detroit Institute of Arts）就把這樣一個破碎的區域聚合在了一起。2012年，底特律郊區的投票者同意向他們徵稅來維持這座藝術館。雖然平攤在每家的錢很少，但它的象徵意義卻很重大，因爲它表明底特律的郊區居民也將這座藝術館視爲整個地區的資產，而不僅僅是城裏人的資產。就在底特律藝術館的收藏品幾乎要拿出來拍賣給城市還債的時候，底特律藝術館以及慈善機構、各大企業和密歇根州政府發起了“大談判”活動來支持該市的養老基金，由此也拯救了藝術館自己。

Even with its extraordinary challenges, there is a new spirit, a new civic and political culture that’s unlike what we’ve seen in the city before.

面對異乎尋常的挑戰，底特律展示了一種新的精神，一種新的民間和政治文化，這是我們以前從未在這座城市看到過的。

Detroit’s experience has taught the country how a challenged cities can be creative and resilient. A year ago pundits warned darkly that there would be a cascade of municipal bankruptcies. But America’s cities proved the doubters wrong: Bankruptcy is not contagious, but revival may well be.

底特律的經驗告訴我們，一座困難重重的城市，也可以非常有創意和韌性。一年前，權威人士曾警告我們，底特律破產後，還將出現一股地方政府的“破產潮”。但美國各大城市的表現卻證明了他們的判斷是錯誤的：破產並不是傳染病，但是復甦卻可能會傳染。

Bruce Katz is a vice president at the Brookings Institution and co-director of the Metropolitan Policy Program. Follow him @bruce_ifer Bradley is a fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program. Follow her @JBradley_DC. Both are co-authors of The Metropolitan Revolution.

本文作者布魯斯o凱茨是布魯金斯學會的副總裁，也是都市政策項目（Metropolitan Policy Program）的共同主任。另一名作者詹妮佛o布拉德利是都市政策項目的研究員。他二人也是《都市革命》（The Metropolitan Revolution）一書的作者。