Competitiveness Of Cities Research Articles

ADDRESSING INNER-CITY DECLINE THROUGH URBAN REGENERATION – THE CASE OF DURBAN POINT PRECINCT DEVELOPMENT

Most inner cities and big towns have in one way or other experienced urban decline. So many reasons can be attributed to urban decline and these include, property abandonment, crime, high unemployment and the rundown of inner-city services thereby leading to the failure to attract new investments. This study focused on exploring the extent to which inner city urban regeneration strategies impact on socio-economic issues in order to create a sustainable inner-city urban environment. This was achieved by exploring applicable inner-city planning principles and examining the role of institutions in the regeneration process. The focus was on the Durban Point Precinct which is a waterfront environment – an area which falls under the eThekwini Municipality Central Municipal Planning Region. This paper is based on empirical research whose data was collected using both qualitative and quantitative research methods such as face-to-face interviews, direct observation and household questionnaires. More so, the study was governed by the competitive city theory and neoliberalism which both speak to the emerging nature of regeneration intervention measures (as typified by mixed developments). The study concluded by noting that inner city urban regeneration strategies are an ideal approach in dealing with declining areas since they resuscitate economic and social life. In the process, such intervention measures do not only redevelop the city, but they rebrand the inner city.

Innovation in cities a driving force for knowledge flows: Exploring the relationship between high-tech firms, student mobility, and the role of youth entrepreneurship

Cities have increasingly asserted their central role in the national economy and in developing and promoting knowledge and innovation at local and national levels. Scholars, economists, and policymakers have examined the effects of innovation in this field as well as the resulting impact on the competitiveness and attractiveness of cities, regions, and urban areas. In the knowledge age, the importance of new generations and the trend towards high-skilled human capital are key factors in urban and national development.In this study, we aim to examine the role played by high-tech firms in the city context and its influence on the attraction of knowledge flow and analyse the moderating role of youth entrepreneurship in those relationships. Using the Spatial Panel data model, we evaluated the student flow interconnections in 30 Italian cities for a 10-year period (2009–2019). As a result, we found that the city attractiveness in terms of student mobility is influenced by the capacity of cities to generate and promote innovation in terms of high-tech firms at the local and spatial levels.These findings suggest that local high-tech firms in cities can influence the knowledge inflow and students' mobility while youth entrepreneurship in cities positively affects this relationship. The obtained results could serve as a good basis to enhance the city development policies in terms of innovation and knowledge, as well as the implementation of smart city projects.

The Integrated Development of Tourism and Cultural and Creative Industries Based on Smart City Cloud Service Information System

In response to the integration of tourism and media, this paper proposes research on the integration of tourism and its practice, leadership, and creative business based on smart city weather information. Based on this research, a systematic investigation and evaluation of smart city tourism competition models are conducted to accurately measure and influence the growth and competitiveness of smart cities, build smart tourism cities, and bring health benefits. Build China’s smart tourism city and enhance the international competitiveness of China’s tourism industry. Second, develop a measurement process. As for the evaluation criteria of tourism competitiveness of smart tourism cities, this paper mainly adopts the methods of single index evaluation and expert experience scoring. Select single indicators, especially quantitative indicators, and evaluate about relevant national, local, and industrial standard values. For qualitative indicators, based on the determination of relevant weights, five grades I, II, III, IV, and V are adopted, with a total score of 100, and the corresponding scores of the five grades are ≤50, 50–59, 60–69, 70–89, and ≥90, so as to determine the evaluation standard of smart Tourism city. The research shows that the research on the integration of tourism industry and cultural and creative industry based on smart city weather data is effective.

An Integrated Assessment of the Competitiveness of a Sustainable City within the Context of the COVID-19 Impact

It is crucial for a city to ensure economic stability and growth, along with social security and prosperity, not only for the present, but also for future generations. Increasingly, researchers are highlighting the need to apply sustainable urban growth principles to the field of urban development, arguing that this would reduce the negative impacts of urbanization processes (poverty, air pollution, unemployment, and crime). At the same time, cities are competing with one another to maintain their position in the urban hierarchy, not only in the short term, but also in the long term. The COVID-19 pandemic affected many areas of our everyday life: over 5.85 million deaths, increased unemployment, the introduction of restrictions, the closure of national borders, and various other circumstances have all undoubtedly affected to a certain degree those factors which serve to influence competitiveness. The aim of this article is to conduct an integrated competitiveness assessment of the Baltic capitals within the context of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for the period 2015–2020, according to an integrated assessment model for urban competitiveness (MDK), which is based upon the principles of sustainable development. A systematic and comparative analysis of the concepts published in the scientific literature has been performed, the concepts of sustainable city and sustainable urban competitiveness have been formed, research and methods of urban competitiveness evaluation have been carried out, and a comprehensive competitiveness assessment of the results of the study showed that the evaluation of integrated competitiveness of a sustainable city in the context of the impact of COVID-19 (using the Baltic capitals as an example in the period 2015–2020), in terms of the multi-criteria SAW and TOPSIS evaluation methods, is in the highest position in 2016–2019. Vilnius is in second place during the whole period 2016–2019. Riga takes third place in 2015–2019 (except in 2020, when it exchanges places with Vilnius and takes second place). Meanwhile, the results of the COPRAS multicriteria method differ from those discussed above. In 2016, 2019, and 2020, Tallinn is in the highest position, and in 2015, 2017, and 2018, it is surpassed by Vilnius. Riga remained in third place from 2015 to 2019. In 2020, Vilnius took over this position.

Has environmental regulation improved the international competitiveness of Chinese cities?

ABSTRACT Based on the instrumental variable method and a fixed-effects model, this paper uses panel data from 283 prefecture-level cities in China from 2004 to 2016 to analyse the impact of environmental regulation on the international competitiveness of China. The results suggest that (1) the strengthening of environmental regulation hinders the international competitiveness of Chinese cities; (2) technological innovation, resource allocation and government intervention all have partial mediating effects between the intensity of environmental regulation and the international competitiveness of Chinese cities. Nevertheless, if reasonable environmental policies can be formulated to enable the organic coordination of technological innovation, resource allocation and government intervention, it is possible to achieve a win-win situation between environmental regulation and the international competitiveness of Chinese cities.

Macau's sustainability and diversification.

We analyze the socio-economic development of Macau after the return to Chinese sovereignty from the three dimensions of sustainability (economy, society, and environment). Macau's economy has both high growth and high volatility, mainly due to its unbalanced industrial structure and vulnerability to external shocks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer confidence declined, due to the rising and high unemployment rate, while the environment has been relatively good since air quality became better. The overall assessment of sustainable city competitiveness of Macau has slipped gradually. This suggests that Macau's factor endowment structure has reached its upper limit and needs to be changed through internal industrial pluralism and external regional deepening (e.g., Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin) to promote the moderately diversified and sustainable development of the economy.

Research on Sustainable Development of Olympic Games Based on Ecological Carrying Capacity Analysis

The Olympic Games is a comprehensive social and cultural activity with the most complicated system and the largest scale. With the development of the Olympic Games, the ecological problems brought by the Olympic Games have attracted increasing attention, and the sustainable development of the Olympic Games has been put on the agenda. Based on the comprehensive index of Ecological Carrying Capacity (ECC), Environmental Kuznets Curve, and carbon footprint analysis of the Olympic Games host city competition cycle, this study analyzes three modes of ECC of the host city: light urban ecological burden mode, heavy urban ecological burden mode, and overload urban ecological burden mode. Based on the temperature sensor and GPS positioning, the land surface temperature change map of Tokyo, Japan, from 1990 to 2015 is obtained, and the heat island effect of Tokyo is obtained. This paper analyzes the case of using sensors for intelligent event management such as venue detection in the sustainable development plan of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; the idea and practice of thrifty hosting of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games holds that in most cases, the ECC of the host city of the Olympic Games is under great pressure, so it is necessary to pay attention to the ECC of the host city. The sustainable development of the Olympic Games is an important issue in the development of the Olympics, but the sustainable development plan of the Olympics is still being explored. It is suggested that the sustainable development of the Olympic Games needs to evaluate the ECC of the host city in the whole cycle, establish the principle of ecological priority to avoid the overload mode of ecological burden, strive to achieve carbon neutrality in the competition, and practice the idea of scientific frugality in running the competition.

Shift Share Location Quotient, and ARIMA Forecasting Methods in the Analysis of the Competitiveness of Tual City and the Economic Growth of the Maluku Province.

Abstract— Economic development and high competitiveness are significant factors in a region’s success, especially since the enactment of Law Number 32 of 2004 on Regional Government, which converted the centralized to a decentralized system. This study analyzes the GRDP data of Tual City and Maluku Province using the shift share method and the Location Quotient method, resulting in a shift share assessment of Tual City’s regional competitiveness. It can be seen that the economic state of Tual City is still influenced by the Maluku Province’s economic growth of 593,688 with an overall slowdown in Proportional Shift of (-633.686) and an differential shift of (-5,756.040) during 9 years. The ARIMA forecasting method was then used to project the province’s 5th-year economic growth of 8,486,707 (billions) in the 5th period.

Urban structure and sustainable modes’ competitiveness in small and medium-sized Norwegian cities

This paper contributes novel empirical and theoretical knowledge on how built environment characteristics affect travel behaviour in small and medium-sized cities and how this differs from larger cities. The competitiveness of sustainable modes versus the private car tends to increase and commuting distances tend to decrease with proximity of dwellings and workplaces to the city centre, following similar patterns as in larger cities, although the tendencies are weaker. Car-usage tend to decrease with higher city-level densities. Relatively dense mixed-use zones outside the inner-city generate higher car shares and longer commutes compared with inner cities and in some cases also outer parts of cities. It is concluded that small and medium-sized cities aiming at improving the competitiveness of sustainable modes versus the private car can follow the same advice as larger cities–steering new urban development to central parts of cities and avoiding new development in the outer areas.

A Data Envelopment Analysis Evaluation Study of Urban Crowd Sourcing Competitiveness Based on Evidence From 21 Chinese Cities.

In the era of the global village, crowd sourcing as a new model of service outsourcing is increasingly being valued by all walks of life. This study uses the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to explain the crowd sourcing competitiveness of service outsourcing base cities by using input-output efficiency. The crowd sourcing competitiveness among crowd sourcing base cities is organized and analyzed by collating and analyzing the data of 21 service outsourcing base cities in China from 2016 to 2019. The results show that there is no significant difference in the competitiveness of 21 service outsourcing, the overall trend is that the competitiveness of crowd sourcing is not strong, the match between input and output is not high. Comparatively speaking, Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou and Wuxi are more competitive in crowd sourcing. Combining with the reality of China's economic development, taking the road of crowd sourcing with Chinese characteristics is a good choice for the development of China's crowd sourcing industry.

Evaluation of Talent Attraction in New First-Tier Cities – Based on Entropy Weight Matter-Element Theory

Talent is a strategic asset of urban development, and it is a component of the comprehensive competitiveness of cities. Under the background of increasing competitions for talents in various places, it is particularly important to scientifically and objectively evaluate the attraction of urban talents. On the basis of constructing a comprehensive evaluation index system of urban talent attraction, the weight of evaluation index is determined by entropy weight method to establish the evaluation model. Based on the panel data of 10 new first-tier cities in Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Tianjin, Xi’an, Chongqing, Qingdao, Shenyang, and Changsha from 2017 to 2019, the entropy weight matter-element model is constructed to measure and evaluate the talent attraction in new first-tier cities. Countermeasures and suggestions for urban talent absorption and management are put forward in this paper.

A systematic literature review of city competitiveness: A 30-year assessment and future agenda for public administration

ABSTRACT This article synthesizes the cross-disciplinary literature on city competitiveness published in the past three decades to bring attention to competitiveness as a key topic for public administration and local government performance. We systematically reviewed research regarding city competitiveness, its measurement, and its antecendents. Subsequently, to explore the link between local governments and competitiveness, we articulated multiple perspectives to investigate this connection, concluding that while the relationship between government and city competitiveness is still not entirely settled and results are far from consistent, the progress made to date charts a course for future research that centres on public administration contributions.

Research on the Communication Strategy of History and Culture in Shaanxi Based on BP Neural Network Model.

Shaanxi is one of China's most important cradles of civilization. The main vein of Chinese culture is rich history and culture, and brilliant red culture embodies the essence of socialist core values. It is still relatively weak to deeply analyze the related research of Shaanxi Province's cultural province construction on the basis of studying the achievements of cultural development in foreign countries and China and combining with the reality of Shaanxi Province. In this paper, a BPNN (BP neural network) model is selected to study the comprehensive evaluation of tourism competitiveness of smart tourism cities, and the software is used to realize the simulation of the comprehensive evaluation system of tourism competitiveness of smart tourism cities, which more comprehensively and objectively reflects the level of comprehensive competitiveness of each city. It is believed that there are some problems in Shaanxi regional cultural communication, such as insufficient exploration of content resources, insufficient communication channels, and low audience awareness, hoping to provide ideas and reference for further exploring the promotion of cultural communication power.

Russian's Smart Cities : Risks and Opportunities

Over the past ten years, the creation of "smart cities" has become a priority area for the development of the digital economy in the world, in our country this direction is just beginning to develop both in legal and regulatory documents, and in economic, social aspects. The achievement of reference points for the spatial development of the economy is due to the implementation of the Smart City project. In our country, the Smart City project is aimed at creating an effective urban management system, creating security and comfortable living conditions for citizens and increasing the competitiveness of Russian cities. The implementation of the national project "Housing and Urban Environment" and the national program "Digital Economy" is being implemented as part of the national project "Smart City", which was developed by the Ministry of Construction of Russia and started in 2018. The implementation of the "Smart City" project is gradually being implemented in various regions of the Russian Federation using digital technologies in urban infrastructure development. The implementation of this project involves taking into account the economic potential of the region, financial resources, human capital (level of education and age of the population), innovation potential, which is determined by the availability and quality of the relevant business infrastructure, scientific, technical and educational base. When implementing each project, risks are not excluded: social, economic, political, technological, which must be taken into account when implementing the Smart City project. The work considered the problems of introducing a national project in the regions, as well as during the analysis highlighted the risks in creating "smart cities." The main directions of trends in the development of "smart cities" are considered: social, economic, technological. The IQ index of the largest "smart cities" for the period 2019-2020 was analyzed. Dynamics of growth of "intellectual" index of digitalization of Russian cities revealed.

Active mobility in historical centres: towards an accessible and competitive city

The state of abandonment which historical districts have experienced from the second post-war period is rooted in the inadequacy of urban services, the lower level of accessibility, the lack of green urban areas and the shift of economic activities in the suburbs. Urban regeneration, since the mid-1990s, has been promoted to enhance and improve these areas by considering their vocations and opportunities. It has the aim to protect and renew existing heritage, as well as intervene in multiple dimensions of urban systems. Given this multidimensional nature, we considered walkability as a driver of the quality and attractiveness of urban areas. Throughout the redevelopment of pedestrian paths, it is possible to enhance the connectivity among houses, services, public facilities and green spaces, valuing built heritage and promoting active and sustainable mobility, synonymous with wellbeing and social inclusion. Numerous studies demonstrated how active mobility measures improve health conditions, citizens’ and city users’ opportunities, and even safety perception and attractiveness of historic city centers. This study aims to deepen the role of active mobility measures in the definition of accessibility and the redevelopment of historical districts characterized by economic and social marginality, furthermore analyzing the competitive spill-over. To this end, we identified and classified in a matrix active mobility measures, resulting from the study and comparison of the latest strategies and best practices, related to physical, economic, social and functional features of historic districts. Finally, the study proposes the application to a material case, Pizzofalcone, a significant area of the city of Naples, due to the lack of integration with the rest of the historic city center, despite its centrality, and the economic and social marginality despite the historical and architectural value of urban fabric, landscape and cultural heritage.

Orange is the new colour of city competitiveness: The role of local governments in promoting cultural and creative industries

Cities have the power to stimulate and harness culture, creativity and innovation for local development. Culture and creativity are invaluable assets with untapped potential to deliver spatial, economic and social dividends for both cities and local communities. Building on the Cities, Culture, and Creativity Framework jointly developed by the World Bank and UNESCO and reviewing lessons learned from cities around the world, this paper discusses how local governments can effectively leverage their decision making, convening power and financial resources to enable and support cultural and creative industries (CCIs) to flourish for city competitiveness. Specifically, the paper examines how local governments can foster the enabling environment and channel the support through their core functions and roles of: 1) public procurement; 2) service delivery; 3) regulating public and private space; and 4) facilitating enterprise support and incentives. Through strategic interventions across these domains and collaboration with key stakeholders, local governments can implement measures to address the constraints impeding the development and growth of CCIs and leverage them as a critical driver of sustainable urban development. While the degree of decentralisation of responsibilities, resources and capacities of each local government may differ, global experiences illustrate that the common denominator is visionary leadership that puts in place the policies and catalyses the enabling conditions to attract and nurture CCIs, coupled with the key creativity ingredients — local talent and the uniqueness of the place.

Study on the Development of Marine Cultural Tourism of Dalian

Dalian is one of the famous coastal tourist cities in China, with a unique geographical location. This paper studies the development of marine cultural tourism in Dalian by means of literature analysis and data analysis. This paper holds that the existing problems of Dalian marine cultural tourism are as follows: Covid-19 impact; Serious pollution of marine resources; Weak brand competitiveness of marine cities; and missing talent. Combined with analysis and the author’s personal knowledge base, this paper believes that paying attention to marine ecological environment protection, excavating cultural resources and personnel training are helpful to break the barriers of Dalian marine cultural tourism, so as to promote the development of Dalian marine cultural tourism.

Saudi Arabia’s City Ranking Index (SACRI) methodology executed: Preliminary findings

Aim/purpose – Saudi Arabia is rapidly urbanizing, where the number of urban residents, currently exceeds 80% of the population. Many cities in the country face challenges of sustainability, livability, resilience, and thus global reputation. Therefore, measuring city performance is crucial in assessing urban complexity in order to improve development potential. As stated in Vision 2030 of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, attempts at improv- ing the global competitiveness and reputation of cities are of prime importance. This attempt aims at developing a culturally sensitive city ranking methodology, testing the method with relevant statistics, and presenting the preliminary results for further discus- sions, deliberations, and extensions. Design/methodology/approach – In this context, an index named Saudi Arabia’s City- -Ranking Index (SACRI) was developed, which proposes a three-dimensional assess- ment, incorporating livability, competitiveness, and environmental sustainability with 58 indicators (widely used or culturally specific). This exercise is carried out in 17 future cities, considering the feasibility criterion. Findings – Riyadh emerged as the most preferred city with the first rank, followed by Jeddah, Dammam, Madina, and Al Baha in order. Najran ranks 17, the last, preceded by Jazan, Al Qatif, Arar, and Al Taif. Research implications/limitations – This ranking of Saudi Arabia’s cities seeks im- portance in planning, improving, and promoting livability, competitiveness, and envi- ronmental sustainability to grab prominent places on a global scale. Originality/value/contribution – This exercise is unique for Saudi Arabia, with specific cultural dimensions that could be replicated in the neighboring Arab countries. Keywords: city ranking, urbanization, livability, competitiveness, environmental sus- tainability. JEL Classification: J10.

Regional marketing as a tool to overcome the digital divide in the Krasnodar Region

The article examines the state of digital divide in the Krasnodar Region in advanced and lagging cities. The authors have selected the most relevant areas where the introduction of digital technologies is of the first priority: state and municipal administration, the banking sector, the personnel market and others. The problems of their digitalization are identified. Recommendations for the use of regional marketing as a tool to overcome the digital divide have been developed. Regional administrations, business leaders and opinion leaders shall develop digital demand, form the population’s skills and competencies in the effective use of the Internet, improve the quality of human capital and a creative innovative environment, primarily by promoting existing projects, courses, various training programs to improve digital literacy, digitalization of business structures, increase the demand for infocommunication technologies. Digital technologies have become a significant factor in the overall perceived quality of the urban environment. They are becoming one of the key instruments for the competition of cities and regions on the national and global markets of human capital, helping to attract, develop and retain successful, ambitious, innovative people, those who are able to give a new impetus to regional socio-economic development.

Establishment and analysis of urban talent attraction evaluation model

Nowadays, the attraction to talents has become increasingly prodominent in determing the future development prospect of cities. How to quantify the attractiveness of cities to talents is an important issue in evaluating the comprehensive competitiveness of cities. This paper takes Xi’an and other emerging first-tier cities in China as the main research object, and classifies the indicators that affect the attractiveness of urban talents into five specific categories. A set of evaluation models are constructed by using entropy weight method, information entropy method and TOPSIS algorithm. The different indicators that measure the level of urban development are normalized and weighted to obtain the attractiveness index of urban talents to describe the attractiveness of talents in cities with similar development levels. To prove the rationality of the model, we apply this evaluation model to different cities and test its stability.