The success of a community today depends upon its ability to adapt to the dynamic local, national and international market economy. Strategically planned local economic development (LED) is increasingly used by communities to strengthen the local economic capacity of an area, improve the investment climate, and increase the productivity and competitiveness of local businesses, entrepreneurs and workers. The ability of communities to improve the quality of life, create new economic opportunities and fight poverty depends upon them being able to understand the processes of LED, and act strategically in the changing and increasingly competitive market economy. The purpose of LED is to build up the economic capacity of a local area to improve its economic future and the quality of life for all. It is a process by which public, business and non-governmental sector partners work collectively to create better conditions for economic growth and employment generation. LED evolved as a policy approach in the early 1970s in response to municipal governments realizing that businesses and capital were moving between locations for competitive advantage. By actively reviewing their economic base, communities gained an understanding of the opportunities for, and obstacles to, growth and investment. With this newfound understanding, communities attempted to expand their economic and employment base by devising and undertaking strategic programs and projects to remove obstacles and facilitate investment. Today, local economies face an even greater set of local, national, regional, and global challenges. SELECTED PROJECTS AND ANALYSIS Ceara Regional Economic Development: Cidades do Ceara (Brazil). The objective of the project is to promote economic development and improve metropolitan management for public services in the Central Cariri Region of Ceara, which includes the nine municipalities of Barbalha, Caririacu, Crato, Farias Brito, Jardim, Juazeiro do Norte, Missao Velha, Nova Olinda, and Santana do Cariri. There are three components to the project. The first will comprise investments in infrastructure at the regional and municipal levels of Central Cariri to address critical infrastructure deficits, protect and restore the environment, and improve public services for local residents and tourists. The second component is the cluster-based local economic development which will initially facilitate the growth of the tourism and footwear clusters in the Central Cariri Region to enhance their competitiveness through business environment improvement, technology upgrading, training and market outreach, and provision of infrastructure for cluster development. The third will promote effective governance at the municipal, regional and state levels through activities. What Can Cities Do to Enhance Competitiveness? While there is no unique approach to a strategy for city competitiveness that is applicable to all cities, and the essence of competitiveness strategy is for each city to define a niche and its own approach, this note explores what types of policies may work. Aside from noting the importance of understanding the local economy and facilitating collaboration for collective efficiency, several specific policy actions are discussed in brief, including joint marketing and investment, and export promotion, value chain integration, entrepreneurship development and support to small and micro enterprises, support to R&D, skills upgrading, economic zones, specialized infrastructure or services, and community economic development. This is a summarized version of a longer report entitled “What Can Cities Do to Enhance Competitiveness? Local Policies and Actions for Innovation” in World Bank Report “Competitiveness and Growth in Brazilian Cities: Local Policies and Actions for Innovation” Brazil – Sao Paolo: Inputs for a Sustainable Competitive City Strategy (Volume 1 and Volume 2). This study aims to offer inputs for a successful recovery strategy for the city and the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo (MSRP) in Brazil. It first presents an analysis of the underlying factors of the economic transition in the MRSP, highlighting the factors behind the recent performance of the MRSP in terms of job creation and growth. Then, four inputs that would lead to a 'recovery strategy' for the MRSP are discussed in detail: improving fiscal performance and creditworthiness; improving competitiveness and the investment climate; improving institutional partnerships; and improving service delivery. Volume 1 contains the main report while Volume 2 serves as a background document. RELEVANT LINKS World Bank (Global) Local Economic Development page |
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