Cities Since the Dawn of the Industrial Essay

Cities

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, cities have been drivers of economic growth. The critical mass of resources (labor and capital) that cities represent allows them to deliver economic production with a high rate of efficiency. However, this efficiency and productivity relies on heavy infrastructure investment to support the city. Critical infrastructure includes transportation, utilities, governance, law enforcement and education, each of which contributes directly to the economic health of the city. In recent years, there has been a push to include other components of infrastructure into the limelight as well, such as living space, recreational space and sustainability. This paper will analyze the key success factors of the world's cities and draw conclusions about how governments can foster successful cities in the future.

There are many different measures of success for cities. The most basic form of measure comes from macroeconomics -- GDP, unemployment rate and investment among the more prominent measures. De Leon and Boris (2010) argue that additional measures are needed to measure success, grouped into fourteen categories including poverty, health, natural environment, human rights, measures of well-being in addition to economic measures. Benfield (2011) supports the premise that a blend of measures contributes to the success of an urban area, including a sense of common identity among residents, the ability to withstand changes and shocks, and the inclusiveness of the city. The argument is that these categories are critical to sustaining long-term economic growth. The Global Cities Index uses a series of measures including business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience and political engagement in its classification of urban success (AT Kearney, 2011).

Brooke (2004) outlines the antecedents of success for modern cities: diversity, good governance, skilled workforce, quality of life, connectivity, physical renewal, business culture, brand and city-region relationship. For cities to maintain long-run success, their leadership needs to deliver these antecedents -- yet there are many underlying factors to building these. Governance is the first place to start, having a city relatively free from corruption, and this also is a significant contributor to a business-friendly environment.Likewise, quality of life and a skilled workforce are also related. A skilled workforce in the most vibrant countries and regions usually has mobility, so a city needs to deliver not only employment opportunities but a high quality of life to attract the best workers. This means safe neighborhoods for their families, educational opportunities for their children, a clean environment and ample recreational and cultural opportunities. Cities with these attributes will have a strong brand that will help draw business and workers alike. Diversity is an interesting challenge because it relates in part to national immigration policies, but a city government can help foster diversity through policies of inclusiveness. It is worth noting the work of Niles Hansen (2001), who argued that very large cities experience domestic population outflow, and therefore must rely on international immigration in order to thrive. A city like Miami thrives not because it excels in other factors, but because has attracted a large foreign-born population, and those communities bring economic ties to their home countries in South America and the Caribbean, from which the city derives substantial economic benefit.

Cities cannot produce strong economies simply by their very existence. The role of the city is to lay the foundation for economic growth. Transportation and communication infrastructure is essential to this growth, because it facilitates the flow of goods and ideas and it is this flow that generates income for a city. This creates a positive feedback loop, where increased revenue allows for increased infrastructure spending. Networked spaces were critical to urban development through much of the 20th century, and their development was largely the role of government (transportation) or a public monopoly (communications). Governments engaged in long-term infrastructure projects in order to attract investment and residents, allowing them to increase their tax base. Graham (2000) argues that the late 20th century saw a shift towards more private investment in infrastructure, particularly in communications. Reduced centralization of urban planning is also an issue, the result of urban sprawl that puts….....