EXURBAN INDUSTRIALIZATION - IMPLICATIONS FOR ECONOMIC-DEVELOPMENT POLICY

Manufacturing is moving into the exurban countryside, away from centra l cities and their suburbs. However, manufacturing firms remain attrac ted to markets, labor, and transportation facilities and, therefore, t end to avoid remote areas. Increasing numbers of firms and employment are locating outside developed urban areas but not necessarily in the rural hinterlands. We call this middle area exurbia, and we call the p rocess of manufacturing growth in this area exurban industrialization it will fuel further population deconcentration and thus presents new opportunities for formerly rural communities within expanding urban te rritory. It also presents new challenges to communities competing for manufacturing firms. Finally it presents fundamental challenges to man ufacturing policy at all levels of government. This article uses econo mic base analysis to characterize exurban industrialization trends, di scusses the nature of competition for new manufacturing jobs in this c ontext, and reviews important policy implications.