Last week, at IDA’s World Towns Leadership Summit, a cohort of city centre leaders representing place management organizations from eight countries gathered in Cape Town, South Africa, to develop a declaration as a roadmap for industry professionals to lead in response to today’s most prominent issues and opportunities.
The summit emphasized the sweeping challenges affecting cities—from macro-level geopolitical and economic uncertainty to micro-level issues that have become universal, such as the constrained capacity of local governments and homelessness. These concerns echoed the March IDA Board meeting, where the Board engaged in critical and productive discourse about IDA’s role as an advocate for our beloved cities and citizens. The operative question is: What is IDA’s international advocacy voice in politically turbulent times?
The impacts of emerging U.S. tariff policies were the chief concern articulated by summit attendees. These economic threats are sending shockwaves across neighboring nations and exacerbating tensions, leading to physical and social withdrawal from longstanding allied relationships. In the face of such conflict, it is an understandable—even instinctual—response to fall into “fight or flight” mode, and we’re already seeing this unfold in different ways. And yet, 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.
Countries targeted by tariffs will not face these challenges alone. There will be unintended consequences. IDA Board members in Chicago and Detroit reported marked reductions in hotel bookings by Canadians, their top international visitors and close economic partners. As reported by Axios, advance bookings for Canada-U.S. flights between April and September are down more than 70 percent compared to this time last year. Moreover, a 10 percent drop in Canadian visitors is estimated to cost U.S. businesses USD 2.1 billion in revenue. Though Canada may be targeted for tariffs, the implications hit home in our U.S. downtowns as well which means IDA must advocate on behalf of both sides of the border.
The summit facilitated by IDA has grown since 2016, bridging global city-building knowledge and bringing international knowhow back to the districts we serve. It is natural, as professional place builders, to share our concerns while we devise transferable solutions. As obsessive problem solvers, we thrive on addressing cities’ rapidly evolving challenges and celebrate effective solutions shared by our counterparts. We collaborate, share, learn, improve and empower one another to achieve better outcomes. That’s who we are at IDA: inspired leaders shaping cities.
That is why, in these times, we must choose to stand together and devise the most effective strategies to face challenges rather than flee. It is imperative that we unite in uncertainty, share the impacts of these policies with one another, build coalitions and quantify the effects needed to advocate successfully. IDA’s advocacy effort is our most nascent ambition, but its strength will be forged through enduring these types of challenges. This is an opportunity to galvanize our membership around a shared purpose and agenda, because these policies will not affect our neighbors alone—they will reverberate throughout our communities and affect our collective well-being.
In the face of these threats, the “I” in IDA is you. We need all of you now, as we are undoubtedly stronger together. To be an international organization, IDA must listen and learn from its members far and wide, but members must also step up to help inform IDA’s understanding of complex issues so that it can advocate effectively. We stand with Canada, and we always stand taller when we stand together.