Foreword
Economic Development
within a shared, city vision
I
nternational flows of capital,
trade in goods and services,
innovation and people are
growing and moving more rapidly
than ever. In this ever increasingly
complex and competitive global
economy, cities need to make
sense of these trends and organise
to compete successfully.
To do this, cities need a shared vision.
A ‘whole of society’ approach is, in the
long run, more inclusive, creative and
sustainable than just a public sector
process. It needs to be authentic and
true to a city’s heritage and identity.
It needs to be aspirational and inspirational, setting a path into the future
that motivates commitment, rather
than a marketing slogan and strap line.
The vision needs to be evidence-based,
rather than a wish list.If a city claims to
be good at something, then it needs
to produce the evidence to back this
up. A city needs to understand where
global demand lies, and respond to that
demand. A city vision should differentiate and distinguish, rather than merely
imitate the latest fads. ‘Green’, ‘smart’,
‘innovative’, ‘creative’ and ‘lifestyle’ cities
are now a dime a dozen. A city needs
to define its niches and specialisations
more precisely.
We must be able to get from vision
to action, with many frameworks and
strategies not getting beyond the paper
they are printed on. Getting a vision is
perhaps the easy part, implementing
it and consistently influencing specific
8
outcomes is more difficult. Partnerships
play a role in this and are useful in driving the innovation necessary to address
complex developmental challenges.
Collaboration doesn’t just happen –
it needs to be organised, on the basis
of sustained partnerships. The quality of a city economic strategy can be
measured by the ‘thickness’ of relationships between institutions, not
simply the quantity or even quality of
the institutions.
We can distinguish between two different types of partnership: dialogue
partnerships and i