How Urban Economics drive Economic Development

Thousands of scholars continue to fascinate and ponder about some answers that continue to evade them; Why do some cities progress rapidly while the others manage on the fringes of progress? Why do some cities do economically well? And, why do some cities falter in terms of progress infrastructurally and economically?

Economic development in the thriving capital cities of the world will be driven purely based on economic interaction in the 21st century. This economic interaction can be achieved through a thriving expert sector, international trade relations, and high investments. All these results in creating better jobs and the overall dynamics of the economy changes.

Understanding Urban Economics

The bare truth about economics is if you need economics to stand straight, then you need a strong backbone in the form of education. To constantly grow and prosper, top-tier cities must improve their education systems. Imparting strong educational values will improve skilled tasked force that will enable to generate more jobs, improve living conditions and attract more international investments. It will also result in a culmination of a stronger entrepreneurial and technological instrument that can help mall and medium companies grow more efficiently.

All being said about developing infrastructure, it is essential that civic leadership too be present in pro-actively in converting thoughts into action. It is essential for the expansion and modernization of cities.  There has been a constantly growing demand to integrate ideas of development in the inner poor cities. To achieve such a feat, we would require novel concepts that are solely focused on businesses that can-do good community service to such areas that struggle economically.

If you get into the past, a lot of the old school urban economists have solely focused on domestic exports of cities and how they benefit an economy. But in their short-sightedness, they failed to realize that international trade and investments would change the dynamics of a city. It would play an active role in the economic revitalization, wealth creation and mass generation of jobs. Some of the global trends that need to be addressed as to how it affects urban economic growth are as follows:

  1. Understanding the importance of the role of market size: In a new global economy, very few countries will be able to achieve the status wherein the domestic market is large enough to reassure continued generation of jobs, urban growth and economic growth. This can be achieved through nurturing of enterprises which have the potential to trade and invest on a global platform.
  2. Urge to adopt agile business practices: Through the period of industrialization, costs of production have always remained a crucial factor. In such a scenario, the labour costs have become far less important as compared to the overall efficiency. To add to the woes faster production of quality goods and the quick delivery rates have added to the complexity of businesses. Agile manufacturing systems can help you solve these problems. Through strong networking that consists of a team of managers and workers that collaborate to achieve tentative goals and again restructure themselves when new opportunities arise.
  3. Importance of forging strategic international alliances: To have better business market expansion. One enterprise located in one city must form a strategic alliance with the other organization located in another city around the world. This works in everyone’s favour as every organization trying to collaborate with the other brings in a special skill set that when combined can yield greater profitability.
  4. Making technology as a driving source for economy: Technology has now become an integral part of the business. It is clearly reflected in the new production techniques, the products itself, modes of communication, transportation and energy sources. All these have resulted in a sure flow in creating a huge demand and supply in global markets. All these culminate in the growth of an economy. New technologies not only enhance the factor of mobility for businesses, it also changes the costs associated with the production and distribution and brings out the advantages of costs of products in both, corporations and cities.
  5. Establishing knowledge-based industries: With the changing dynamics of urban economics, development has now changed its strategy to a mass production corporation. They solely rely on low wage labour and cheap raw materials that are facilitated with energy, technology and knowledge-based system of production and services. The service-based system solely comprises 60 to 80% of the market.
  6. Building a strong foundation of investment and international trade: It is a known fact that for any flourishing city, it accounts for at least 20% of the economic growth of a country. It also provides close to 11% job to a nation. This is how important International trade is. Hence it is necessary that strong bidirectional ties are maintained with potential countries that have a high demand and can pump in investments that can generate more work, services and wealth to a growing urban economy. City Branding is another promising option!
  7. Improving the living condition of the people: If you need to increase a population of a city, the civic body must get into action to create a city that attracts and sustains people from all walks of life. A well-built community is a core on which the economy can thrive. Some of the crucial aspects of a community include diversity, cultural aspects, artistic and recreational, environmental, physical and more importantly educational tools at all levels. To bring in economic prosperity, the efforts must be to develop a great neighborhood. This should be ensured by a greater sense of physical security so that there is reduce crime and violence. Effective law enforcement should be put in place. All this should result in forging strong community ties and help develop an extremely secured environment that one can look forward to residing.
  8. Choose and enhance good civic leadership: To create a world class city to live and work in, good leaders must play a crucial part in taking the right decisions. Urban leaders must strive to promote a pragmatic perspective to the public and private sectors and generate comparative advantages. It has been noted that every city that has successfully restructured its economy, has come through a conscious effort and a sense of civic commitment. Some of the thriving cities were a result of good leadership and close collaborations between business management and government officials.

Urban Economics - Industries

Students studying urban economics usually try and formulate the economic jargons and arguments and try and edit a good dissertation in the best way possible. Writing on such a complex subject can get overwhelming.

In conclusion, we have consciously tried to outline the various strategies that can be possibly implemented to develop urban economics. The ability of the major city to thrive on large economic factors will solely depend upon the capability of the city to adapt and adjust to the international social, economic, and political changes that help leverage greater competition in business techniques. One thing is clear if the urban cities must sustain themselves as a city that businesses can invest, they need to deep delve into the economics and restructure it. All in all, the global forces affecting urban economic growth require a restructuring that involves strategies. This will prove necessary to build bridges that heal the divide between social and economic mainstream and will also enable the inner-city poor to thrive locally in the international marketplace.