At the center of this potential job growth is the private sector, which typically accounts for 75 percent of jobs created. If more cities were competitive, several million additional jobs could be created every year. Of the 750 global cities analyzed in the report, three-quarters have grown faster than their national economies since the early 2000s.

“But fewer people can point to real evidence-and even better, evidence that is practical and can be used tomorrow by policymakers. “We sensed that everyone has an opinion on cities and economic development-these topics are sexy, urgent and perplexing,” said Stefano Negri, Lead Private Sector Development Specialist on the Competitive Cities team. The resulting report, Competitive Cities for Jobs and Growth: What, Who, and How shows that improving the competitiveness of cities can help eliminate extreme poverty and promote prosperity for all citizens. One way to address this challenge is to improve a city’s competitiveness, transforming average cities into flourishing urban centers that successfully facilitate firm and industry growth to create jobs, raise productivity and increase incomes.Ī team at the World Bank Group has been working since January 2014 on a series of analyses that looked at two central questions: what makes a city competitive and how can more cities become competitive. But they’re also poles of poverty and, much too often, centers of unemployment. They’re where people live and work and hubs for growth and innovation. WASHINGTON, December 10, 2015-Cities are the future. Democratic Republic of Congo - Français.

Global city teams challenge