Global Metro Summit - summary and key messages

Over 500 people attended the Global Metro Summit in Chicago on 8 December 2010. Organised by LSE Cities, the Brookings Institution Metro Policy Program, the Alfred Herrhausen Society with media sponsor TIME Magazine, the summit brought together over 50 innovative speakers including half a dozen mayors, leading policy makers, representatives from the White House, academics and philanthropists from around the world to discuss the next urban economy.

Editor of TIME Magazine Richard Stengel moderated a policy debate with Mayor of Chicago Richard Daley, Mayor of Philadelphia Michael Nutter and Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa. Deutsche Bank CEO Dr. Joseph Ackermann expounded the financial and ecological imperatives of the green economy, while UN Under-Secretary General Joan Clos and José Serra, former Governor of São Paulo, discussed the impact of global urbanization on emerging markets.

Metropolitan leaders illustrated how EU and Asian cities have overcome challenging crises in the past and shown significant progress in urban economic development over the past two decades. This has been achieved by reclaiming and diversifying local assets and strengths, repositioning themselves internationally, especially in emerging economies, and investing in innovation. US private sector, civic, non-profit and political urban leaders unveiled Metro Business Plans aimed at implementing Brookings Institution’s vision for the next metro-led American Economy, centred around the promotion of exports, innovation and the green economy.

Speakers and participants discussed different approaches and perspectives to overcome the current global economic crisis. The main messages that emerged from the discussion included:

• Cities and metropolitan regions can learn from each other, especially in terms of policies, instruments and tools for metropolitan development. In addition, city and regional governments are increasingly inclined to rely on each other rather than national governments to find solutions to the crisis.
• The current fiscal crisis and debt situation of local and national governments worldwide has significantly reduced the amount of public funding available for metropolitan and regional development.
• Future urban economic development, especially infrastructure, will have to leverage private sector capital and investment to compensate for shrinking public funding. The key challenge for local and national authorities will be to secure a low-risk, safe and remunerative environment for long term private investors.
• Asian and Latin American cities and countries will be key driver of global economic development in the medium-long term. US and EU metros are likely to continue their global repositioning in emerging countries for increased trade and economic exchange. In the short term, however, a general ‘inward-looking’ tendency has emerged in cities in the North to face the austerity brought about by the crisis.
• Governance structures at local and national level will have to be reconfigured to increase the level of trust and cooperation amongst a wide array of actors. One key message of the Summit was ‘we are in this together’.
• Visions for the next economy will have to take into account the impact of future development agendas on different sectors of society. For example the promotion of high-tech and innovative sectors may leave unqualified workers behind.
• Several cities have re-invented themselves by blending their economic past with new and diversified economic identities. There was general agreement that cities should not re-invent themselves ignoring their traditions, strengths and assets.
• The philanthropic sector has played a crucial role in minimising the negative social impact of the current crisis through social programmes and projects (e.g. housing, education etc.) for the most vulnerable groups of society. Philanthropists are also slowly becoming active investors (rather than donors) in economic development.
• Strategic planning and integrated approaches to urban economic development, which linked investment in infrastructure to education, innovation, private sector and the market-place have allowed cities to overcome crisis in the past. There was general agreement that this approach could help cities emerge from the current recession but several questions concerning investment and leadership remained answered.
• Cultural and economic differences, especially in terms of governance structures and roles, between global regions still permeate the economic development debate. For example, in the US, the federal government is primarily considered a financial investor in metropolitan development whilst in the EU, national and local governments are regarded as key economic and social stakeholders in development projects.