ROLE OF LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE POLICIES AND ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES IN METROPOLITAN INTERJURISDICTIONAL COOPERATION

This paper analyzes infrastructure development policies and economic d evelopment incentives used by the Indianapolis region's largest cities and the counties surrounding Marion County. These two policies create the interjurisdictional environment for cooperation or competition fo r urban development, which structures the approaches cities take in pu rsuing development. This analysis assesses how the urban development p olicy environment supports either cooperation or competition among cit ies and the counties around Indianapolis. Among cities, the policies c ould be very different or quite similar. When different, there is inte rurban competition because differing development environments exist. W here policies are similar, interlocal cooperation may result. The anal ysis shows the region's infrastructure policies to be open-ended and d esigned to allow the governments to compete for development. Economic development incentives used by Indianapolis jurisdictions suggest the underlying development environment is competition, not cooperation. Th is can be positive because city administrators have flexibility to neg otiate development deals. But flexibility creates competition among th e region's governments. When development interests know cities have fl exible policies, interjurisdictional competition emerges in order to a dvertise a willingness to negotiate or market development policies hig hly favorable to business activity.