Not only are cities becoming the centre of developmental attention, their growing importance is challenging how we look at global societies. The national economy depends on the health of its cities. And that health is multifaceted.
ONE OUT OF TWO people in the world already lives in a city today. In 40 years, seven out of 10 will be doing that. Rapid urbanisation around the world has put to past the notion that cities would become sprawling (like many American towns); instead experts now recognise that people are moving towards cities to both live and work, at a rapid rate.
What’s fascinating is that cities will soon become more important than nation-states, where the competition for global talent will be better expressed, for example, a case of Vancouver vs. Seattle, as opposed to Canada vs. the US; or Bangkok vs. Kuala Lumpur, and not Thailand vs. Malaysia.
