Metropolitan Policy Program@metropolitanpolicyprogram
Created in 1996, the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program provides decision makers with cutting-edge research and policy ideas for improving the health and prosperity of cities and metropolitan areas.
The program is based on a simple premise: The United States is a metropolitan nation. Metropolitan areas are home to 83 percent of the U.S. population, 85 percent of the nation’s jobs and 92 percent of all college graduates. They are our hubs of research and innovation, our centers of human capital, and our gateways of trade and immigration. They are, in short, the drivers of our economy, and American competitiveness depends on their vitality.
Our work is designed to help metropolitan areas (and the cities and suburbs within them) achieve three goals that are central for success in the new global order:
Grow in robust ways by embracing an innovative, productive economy that builds on the distinct strengths of individual places
Grow in inclusive ways by fostering a strong middle class and reducing racial and ethnic disparities in education, income and wealth
Grow in sustainable ways by strengthening cities and older communities, and promoting energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive patterns of development