Making Cities Globally Connected
Cities as engines of economic growth
Cities are the engines of economic growth, but what do they need to do to secure and maintain this growth over the long term? Cities are under pressure to meet the multiple demands of growing populations, economic change and climate shocks. In a fast-changing world economy, and facing increased international competition, many cities are reviewing their economic strategies and how they can leverage investment and support economic growth.
This program will focus on the challenges of economic globalization and new economic trajectories for planning, housing and for the dynamics of the local economy. What are the solutions to these challenges for different kind of cities?
Cities, crisis and the influence on planning and housing
The negative effects of the economic and financial crisis have brought many cities to a situation, where they are faced with the challenge of redeveloping and diversifying their economies. There are, however, major challenges in converting or changing the local development trajectory.
The process of economic globalization is causing major alterations and adjustments of the built environments in many cities across the globe. The effects of loss of firms and jobs may be obsolete buildings and industrial areas, while the search for a new development path may change the urban landscape significantly. Loss of place identity may be a consequence, and the search for a new place identity may be a new challenge that cities will face. A focus of this program, then, will be on how the built environment and place identities are affected and changed by the forces of globalization, and on the solutions to these challenges.
Questions that will be raised within this program include:
- How can cities mobilize stakeholders and citizens in collective and participative planning and visioning exercises?
- What strategic planning tools can play a key role in such activities?
- What governance approach is needed for cities to change their development trajectory, and to adapt to the changes of economic globalization?
- To what extent are cities capable of changing the direction of their development trajectory or even moving to another one?
- What are the implications of being decoupled of global flows of capital, knowledge and culture?
- How is the built environment affected by the forces of economic globalization?
- Can cities stay attractive without necessarily having economic growth as a driving force?
