Cities Engines Of Economic Development

Cities are the engines of growth for most national economies. As centers of production, innovation, creativity, trade and connectivity, urban areas are taking a leading role in stimulating global economic growth and competitiveness, resulting in higher incomes per capita and higher productivity. However, cities can also be places where some of the most important challenges of the 21st century, such as inequality, unemployment, segregation and poverty, are concentrated and exacerbated. How can cities balance the economic advantages they have and the associated challenges brought by rapid urbanization and economic growth? What is the role of local governments in achieving and ensuring sustainable economic growth and facilitating job creation? Can cities foster economic development? This volume is part of a book series called "IESE Cities in Motion: International Urban Best Practices." Cities and the Economy focuses on how cities can address these challenges in order to achieve sustainable economic growth, and assess the role of city governments and firms in promoting and ensuring local economic development. The book aims to be: - an insightful analysis of the main urban economic trends and challenges - a collection of international best practices on sustainable urban economies and local economic development - a tool to help city managers and policymakers in their endeavors to develop and deploy policies and initiatives to achieve urban areas that are economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.

Economic challenges in developing Asian countries have become more complex: urban populations are growing at great cost to the environment, climate change has increased risks of natural disasters, and income gaps within and between developing countries are widening. These factors threaten the sustainable growth and development of urban areas, the drivers of Asia's economy. A strategic approach for inclusive growth is needed. The City Cluster Economic Development approach provides a strategic framework and a set of analytical tools, which governments, businesses, and communities can use to support the inclusive and sustainable development of competitive urban economies in Asia. Said approach was developed and tested by the Asian Development Bank to improve the basis for integrated planning and development of urban regions in Asia and the Pacific. It also elps urban managers and other city stakeholders identify action plans and determine priority investment areas.

Sample Text

This book analyses and compares the development paths of five major cities in East and Southeast Asia since the early 1960s, including Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Manila, Seoul, and Shanghai. In examining these five cases through a carefully crafted conceptual framework, the author excavates an understanding of the dynamics that have enabled Seoul and Shanghai to become highly competitive as major engines of economic growth, while simultaneously accounting for why the other three cities have faced numerous problems in terms of meeting their development goals. Presenting both quantitative and qualitative data to trace the course of changes between 1960 and 2015, the case studies curate six possible explanations for the different cities’ developmental trajectories. The book considers the national development strategy matters to the development of cities and positions the share of budget revenue retained for cities’ expenditure as critical. The author demonstrates that consistently pursuing long-term strategies is important, and that public entrepreneurship with powerful supporting coalitions is vital. The book illustrates how master plans have played limited roles in the building of cities, and that fragmented governments are often at the root of the problems facing a city’s development. This book will be highly relevant to researchers in international and Asian urban development.

Today 60 percent of Moroccans reside in urban areas, as opposed to 35 percent in 1970. By 2050, nearly three-quarters of the country’s population will be living in cities. Along with the concentration of people, urbanization will lead to the increasing concentration of economic activities in cities, which today are estimated to account for about 75 percent of the country’s GDP and 70 percent of investments at the national level. To accompany these transformations, the Moroccan government has adopted, in recent years, ambitious programs to improve living standards in urban and rural areas. Significant improvements in living standards have been achieved through national master plans. Cities are the engines of today’s demographic and economic growth in Morocco, but they also face persistent challenges. Despite substantial public investments and strong potential for cities to absorb rural poverty, important pockets of urban poverty remain. Spatial disparities are a major cause for concern both for citizens as well as for national and local governments. In addition, Moroccan cities are not delivering on their full potential. Urbanization has not generated the same growth benefits in Morocco as it has in many other countries with similar contexts. These patterns suggest that Morocco needs specific policies to improve returns from its urbanization process. The main message of this note is that urbanization and spatial equity are not competing objectives when urbanization is supported and managed well. Well-managed urbanization allows for economies of scale in the provision of services and the development of more efficient labor. This note identifies priority actions to be taken at national, regional, and local levels to allow public authorities to act within a coherent framework and to help urban development to boost economic growth and promote shared prosperity for all.