Analysing Urban Development Strategies: the OECD Approach

by Adam Knelman Ostry

Counsellor, Regional Development Policyadam.OSTRY@oecd.org

Conference on Urban Development Strategies in the Mediterranean

Barcelona, March 14-15, 2011

The Mandate of the OECD

• Founded in 1961 to:

•Achieve sustainable growth and employment

•Contribute to sound economic expansion

•Contribute to world trade expansion

• 34 Member States

• Forum for debate/knowledge sharing

OECD Work on Regional Development• 1999: TDPC created to study regions’ contribution to aggregate growth/jobs

• Urban

• Rural

• Territorial Indicators

• 2003: Ministers endorse paradigm shift

• away from sector subsidies to reduce disparities

• toward multi-sector development model based on harnessing local strengths and assets to achieve growth

• 2009: Ministers focus on Green Growth as a new development model

TDPC’s Three-Pillared Programme of Work

• Regional Competitiveness Factors/Patterns

•Innovation strategies/networks

•Comparative advantages

•FDI attraction/retention/contribution

•Sustainable infrastructure development

• Governance• Multi-level coordination

•Horizontal collaboration

•Cross–border cooperation

• Statistics and Indicators

Place-Based Analysis: Territorial Reviews•National Reviews

•Metropolitan Reviews

•Rural Reviews

•Regional Reviews

•National Urban Policy Reviews

•National Rural Policy Reviews

•Cross-Sector Regional Programmes•Cities and Green Growth

•Green Energy and Rural Development

•Territorial Databases (Regions at a Glance; Metropolitan Regions Database)

Regional typology:

Europe TL3

Predominantly urban regions

Intermediate regions

Predominantly rural regions

Source: OECD Territorial Database

Regional typology: North America TL3

Predominantly urban regions Intermediate regions Predominantly rural regions

Source: OECD Territorial Database

Territorial Reviews of Metropolitan Regions

• Purpose

• Conceptual Framework

• Methodology

Metropolitan Reviews: Purpose

•Evaluate metropolitan competitiveness, attractiveness, sustainability

•Assess effectiveness, sustainability of policy approaches

•Assess governance efficiency and pertinence in sustaining growth

Metropolitan Reviews: Conceptual Framework

•Analysis of Trends, Growth Potential, Untapped Resources

•International Benchmarking

•Analysis of Policy Approaches (clusters; education/training; infrastructure; land-use; attractiveness; housing; FDI; social cohesion; climate change strategies; green growth strategies)

•Metropolitan Governance• Urban/inter-municipal and Multi-level

• Fiscal Arrangements for Sustainable Metropolitan Competitiveness

Metropolitan Reviews: Methodology• Letter of Commitment from Requesting Authority/ies

• Constitution of Local Team: Steering/operations committees of key public, academic, private actors

• Information Gathering: Background Report; literature Reviews; Study Missions (OECD officials, Peer Reviewers, Academic Experts)

•Report Production: Interim and Final Drafts

•Report Approval: TDPC

•Report Published under OECD Imprimatur

22 Metropolitan Reviews: Impact so far• Montréal (2004): Newly created metropolitan government developed a road-map for its strategic policy framework, based on Report’s advice

• Milan (2006): Central Government proposed a law to create supra-municipal tier of government, based on Report’s advice

• Stockholm (2006): Inter-municipal cooperation strategy for EU structural funds implemented, based on Report’s advice

• Randstad (2007): Central Government appointed Minister for Randstad, implemented a Randstad programme for accessibility and economic development and enhanced coordination between the four cities in the Randstad region, based on Report’s advice

• Toronto (2009): Thanks to the commissioning Mayor, debates on regional trranportation/infrastructure funding, immigrant settlement and green-economy R&D support revived, based on Report’s content

Metropolitan Reviews: Lessons Learned/Current Issues

1. Limited Availability of Data and Indicators• functional metropolitan region level

• Comparability challenges

2. Post-Crisis competitiveness strategies/green beyond climate change?• Green Growth, Green Development, Green Economy?

• Is greater efficiency resulting in cost savings enough?

• Growth that raises metropolitan well-being overall? i.e. Net Metropolitan AggregateGrowth AND Environmental Health?

• « Energy-based Economic Development » as the policy framework?

3. What About Equity?• Metropolitan Winners and Losers?

• Human Capital Integration into a Sustainable Metropolitan Economy?

Metropolitan Reviews: Knowledge Sharing

• TDPC and its Working Parties

• International Conferences

• Inter-agency Dialogue•UN Habitat

•EU Secretariat/Eurostat

•ICLEI and other NGOs

•World Bank

•OECD Roundtable of Mayors and Ministers•Give local leaders a « seat at the table » of OECD’s main players: central ministers of Finance, the Economy, the Environment

THANK YOU!OECD Main Contacts

• Lamia.KAMAL-CHAOUI@oecd.org

•Head, Urban Development Programme

• Adam.OSTRY@oecd.org

•Counsellor