The increasing attention paid to the region as a key unit of economic activity has given rise to powerful new economic development strategies. By focusing on economic rather than political boundaries, regional approaches can more effectively tackle development issues and devise more comprehensive strategies for economic growth. This conclusion is well articulated in the recent Report of the Strengthening America’s Communities Advisory Committee. However, the regional scope of the strategy does not mean that its focus and interventions can be limited to a regional level. To succeed in the long run, regional strategies must reflect the connections between the region and its cities and neighborhoods – all of the communities which constitute the region. The economic prosperity of the region and of its communities is inextricably intertwined.

To read more, download the Strengthening Communities PDF.

This presentation, prepared for CEOs for Cities’ annual meeting, explores some of the key findings that have emerged from the literature on the role of cities in the national economy and on the drivers of urban economic growth. Based on these findings, we extrapolate seven broad principles for urban policy and suggest several related strategies for city and regional economic development.

The Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program hired RW Ventures and Alen Amirkhanien to complete a preliminary assessment of Kansas City’s economy in the context of the Heartland region. This study scans key aspects of Kansas City’s economy to identify growth opportunities worth examining further. The research focused in particular on four strategic areas that affect economic performance: industry composition, functional and occupational concentrations, knowledge and innovation, and regional connectivity.

This major study, conducted with Christopher Berry for CEOs for Cities, examines the changing drivers of economic success in American cities and metropolitan areas, and how these affect decision-making for leaders across all sectors. The report illustrates our findings on what is happening in and to cities, what made some cities thrive in the 1990s, and what factors appear to make the critical difference for the future.

This study, completed for CEOs for Cities, features a data scan of economic indicators and activity in cities. The study finds that the assets of cities are enormous, varied, and concentrated in particularly critical sectors. It also finds that cities feature economies disproportionately concentrated in “new” activity, and that cities are both hubs and drivers of regional economies that transcend political boundaries.

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