Philadelphia's University City Science Center is the oldest urban research park in the nation and a powerful engine of growth for the region's economy. Founded in 1963 as a not-for-profit owned by the city's leading universities and hospitals, the Science Center lets laboratory and office space to startup companies focused on the life sciences. But some of the undeveloped land that the center sits on in West Philadelphia is under siege by the city's Redevelopment Authority, underscoring the difficulty that governments and corporations are feeling in the wake of the financial meltdown.