The International Downtown Association (IDA) stands at a pivotal moment. As the leading voice for place management professionals across the globe, our collective strength and expertise are more critical than ever to address the evolving challenges facing city centers.
Recently, at IDA’s World Towns Leadership Summit in Cape Town, South Africa, leaders from eight countries convened to forge a declaration that will serve as a roadmap for our industry. This declaration aims to position place management professionals as essential to addressing today’s most pressing issues and opportunities. The summit highlighted the complex and often universally sweeping challenges confronting cities worldwide ranging from geopolitical and economic instability to local issues like constrained local government capacity, shifting real estate needs, crime, homelessness and impacts to tourism.
These discussions resonated strongly with the concerns echoed in our March IDA Board meeting, emphasizing the importance of IDA’s role as a powerful advocate for our cities and their citizens. In Washington, DC, last week, this advocacy role took the form of direct engagement with the U.S. Congress. At our 2025 Capitol Hill Fly-In, IDA members met with 80 House and Senate offices to advocate for policies that strengthen urban centers and forge deeper relationships with federal elected leaders.
A key focus included a push for the passage of a bipartisan bill that introduces a Qualified Office Conversion Tax Credit. This legislation aims to incentivize the conversion of underutilized office and commercial spaces into affordable housing and mixed-use developments. By doing so, we can address the critical housing shortage many communities face while simultaneously revitalizing downtown areas and ensuring they remain vibrant hubs of economic activity.
In addition, we were actively supporting measures to combat organized retail crime, which poses a significant threat to the safety and economic vitality of our downtowns. The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act seeks to establish a coordination center within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to facilitate intelligence sharing and provide resources to combat this growing problem.
These recent leadership discussions at the IDA Board meeting, the international deliberations among global summit attendees and the very pointed leadership voice delivered in the nation’s capital reinforces how the challenges we face are complex and interconnected, but so is our capacity to overcome them.
As IDA Board Chair Kris Larson, AICP, LPM eloquently stated, “As a small but mighty professional community, we must resist the urge to retreat and instead stand together as one IDA in support of all city centers.” By uniting our voices, sharing our experiences and advocating for sound policies, we can shape a future where our cities thrive as inclusive, resilient and dynamic places for all. “The “I” in IDA is you and your unwavering commitment to the future of place management.”
When asked to lean in and engage with fellow IDA members, I urge you to make the leap. I have seen firsthand how group connections among members fuel individual passion for our work. Each member is energized with renewed purpose and greater capacity to forge ahead. I hope to see you at the next gathering for IDA Place Matters in Cleveland, OH.