The extensive adoption of the industry cluster-based approach to economic development as popularized by Michael Porter calls for the examination of the expected benefits for inner cities. Clusters encourage practitioners to view regional economies in terms of groupings of related firms and supporting infrastructure, and to link economic development with workforce development and business support strategies. On September 15-16, 2015 researchers and practitioners gathered in Detroit for the Inner City Economic Summit, to share knowledge and experiences regarding strategies that can help drive economic growth in inner cities. In this conference summary, we analyze the findings and discussions of that meeting for the special edition of the Economic Development Quarterly May 2016 publication. The research findings presented at the summit suggest that agglomeration economies can foster employment growth in inner cities. Evidence also suggests that human capital development and a supportive business ecosystem, including better access to financing for minority entrepreneurs in inner cities, are important ingredients for a cluster-centered policy framework. The discussions at the summit underscore that industry cluster-based development strategies can be an effective intervention for change for distressed communities when they link to effective workforce training and business development programs.
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