Urban Competitiveness Research Articles

Urban Competitiveness Assessment Using the Integration of the Global Power City Index and Multicriteria Decision-Making Methods

Urban Competitiveness Assessment Using the Integration of the Global Power City Index and Multicriteria Decision-Making Methods

A Comparative Study on the Urban Competitiveness for Sustainable Growth of Busan with Osaka and Shanghai

A Comparative Study on the Urban Competitiveness for Sustainable Growth of Busan with Osaka and Shanghai

Research on the Image of Yanqing in Mainstream Media Coverage of the Winter Olympics

The successful hosting of large-scale sports events can assist in the construction and dissemination of urban media image, and enhance urban competitiveness. This article mainly takes news reports on Yanqing from three mainstream media outlets, namely People's Daily, Beijing Daily, and Beijing Evening News, during the Winter Olympics as research samples. Using methods such as content analysis, the article analyzes Yanqing's urban media image from multiple perspectives by analyzing the emotional color, coverage density, themes, and keyword frequency of news reports. It presents a good media image of Yanqing built at different levels such as government, environment, culture, and society during the Winter Olympics.

Resource regulation and green innovation: Evidence from China's water rights trading policy

Green innovation is the pivotal part connected with achieving urban sustainable development. Resource regulation, represented by water rights trading policy (WRTP), is playing an increasingly important role in supporting urban green innovation (UGI). Therefore, this paper uses the WRTP conducted in 2014 in China as a quasi-natural experiment to evaluate the net effect of resource regulation on green innovation by the identification methods of difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results show that: (1) WRTP promotes UGI significantly, and this finding holds after a series of robustness tests. (2)The influencing mechanisms are mainly by optimizing industrial structure and enhancing the efficiency of resource allocation and information exchange efficiency and the promoting function is moderated by urban competitiveness and population agglomeration. (3) The promotion effects are greater in cities with higher level of government intervention, environmental pollution, water using quantity and local economy.(4) WRTP has the spatial spillover effect on UGI. These findings provide insights into sustainable development of water resources, management of water trading market, urban green innovation and sustainable economic development.

О формировании предпосылок стратегирования городской конкурентоспособности

Strategic urbanization needs new theoretical and methodological tools at the current stage of Russia’s territorial development. This article identifies prerequisites for a new approach to urban development based on strategizing the urban competitiveness. Using the general theory of strategy and the methodology of strategizing developed by Professor V.L. Kvint, the author studied the socio-economic phenomenon of urban competitiveness. The review of scientific publications involved a narrative bibliographic analysis, which made it possible to determine and classify the key factors of urban competitiveness. By strategizing the urban competitiveness, municipal authorities obtain scientifically based theoretical and methodological foundations for solving various issues of urban development. The review also highlighted urban competitiveness as a socio-economic phenomenon and revealed four groups of factors, i.e., social, economic, infrastructural, and institutional. The main prerequisites for strategizing the urban competitiveness should rely on a comprehensive analysis and forecast of endogenous and exogenous factors, while taking into account the dichotomy of the subject to be strategized. The main directions of strategizing should depend on the system of unique competitive advantages of the urban settlement in question. The approach and the basic strategizing principles introduced in this article do not complete urban competitiveness as a system: the matter needs further methodological research. However, the groundwork can be independently used to strategize urban development.

Research on Handan City’s Urban Competitiveness and Industrial Economic Agglomeration Under the “532” Industrial Layout

With the continuous development and expansion of the global economy, urban competitiveness has become an important indicator of a city’s overall development potential, affecting its ability to attract talent, investment and enterprises. The purpose of this paper is to examine the urban competitiveness and industrial agglomeration of Handan, China. Handan is characterized by stable economic growth, a well-developed transport infrastructure and a base of higher education institutions, but industrial agglomeration is not as pronounced as might be expected given its size and economic status. Handan needs a mix of traditional manufacturing and services with high-tech or cutting-edge industries and needs to transform itself into a more diversified and technology-driven city.

Research on the coordinated development and convergence characteristics of China’s urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity

The coordinated development of urban competitiveness (UC) and green total factor productivity (GTFP) is paramount for achieving global sustainable development objectives, especially for regional sustainability in China. This study utilizes panel data from 2011 to 2019 encompassing 273 Chinese cities to evaluate the urban competitiveness index employing the projection pursuit method. The research categorizes Chinese cities into four regions—East, Central, West, and Northeast—for comparative analysis purposes. The findings unveil: (1) a discernible rise in both overall and regional coordination between urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity in China; (2) throughout the study period, except for fluctuations observed in Northeastern China, coordination in other regions sustained relative stability, manifesting a trend of divergence-convergence; (3) the coordination between urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity across all regions demonstrated β-convergence, with Central China exhibiting the swiftest convergence and Northeastern China the slowest; (4) taking into account factors such as government intervention, industrial structure, and human capital, there is a likelihood that the growth rate of coordination between urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity in diverse regions will converge towards a synergistic trend. Therefore, as Chinese cities strive to enhance competitiveness and green total factor productivity, governmental attention should be directed towards discerning the developmental trends and influencing factors affecting their coordination. Such an approach will facilitate the realization of regional sustainable development objectives while propelling the synchronized advancement of urban competitiveness and green total factor productivity.

Clustering policy for urban competitiveness: One‐size‐fits‐all? Evidence from Tehran

Urban competitiveness is commonly attributed to necessitating particular types of socio‐spatial frameworks such as clustering on the basis of models of Marshall–Arrow–Romer (MAR), Porter, or Jacobs, since proximity is known as a key perquisite for knowledge spillover, innovation, and hence urban competitiveness. Nevertheless, it is unjustifiable to unconditionally endorse the ‘clustering’ policy. Consequently, this research aims to examine the spatiality and geography of competition and innovation contingent upon varying spatial prerequisites and contextual circumstances. In this regard, two questions have been raised: under what circumstances urban competitiveness depends on spatial agglomeration, and whether this agglomeration follows a clustering development pattern. Through the implementation of a causal research design utilizing both in‐depth interviews and social survey methodology, this study has determined the innovative characteristics and techniques for knowledge acquisition, as well as spatial behaviors and preferences of competitive industries located within Tehran. The spatially constrained multivariate clustering method was employed to group competitive industries according to their distinct substantive dissimilarities, socio‐spatial behaviors, and characteristics. Then, on the basis of the structural equation modeling, the most appropriate spatial development frameworks of competitiveness were extracted with regard to the specific conditions of Tehran. Findings show that innovation, and hence competitiveness, are not always the result of clustering; clusters, as a spatial policy‐making tool, have been found to be highly conducive to collaborative and intensive knowledge production, as they provide access to spillover knowledge, thereby increasing competitiveness. Despite complex economic dependencies and collaborations, some competitive industries have greater mobility and are footloose due to their Schumpeterian linear knowledge source and virtual nature. What matters for this elusive, light, fluid category free from the shackles of place is institutional and organizational proximity, which proves its conditions are up to the government. As the main finding of the research, the geography and spatiality of innovation, and therefore the competitiveness, depend on two factors, including: (a) the relationships and interactions, that is, types of activity units and (b) the source and method of acquiring knowledge required for innovation and competitive advantage. In some activities, on the basis of their knowledge intensity, interaction type, and knowledge source, competitiveness is not related to clusters; in others, it depends on a specific location; and some are independent of location.

Study on the coordinated development of urban competitiveness and energy-carbon emission reduction in China

The urban competitiveness (UC) evaluation system is multidimensional and complex. This paper takes the simulated annealing (SA) model as the projection pursuit (PP) optimization to achieve a comprehensive assessment of competitiveness of 277 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2019, accompanied by energy saving and carbon-emission reduction (ESCER) as environmental measurements, to explore whether the two can meet the Porter hypothesis through coupling coordination degree (CCD). Further using spatiotemporal autocorrelation and obstacle degree model to uncover spatiotemporal features and interfering factors of coordinated development. Key findings include: (1) UC and ESCER show a slightly fluctuating upward trend during the research period, with apparent spatial variations. The eastern coastal region has a robust UC, while the less competitive central and western regions benefit from natural conditions, excelling in ESCER. (2) 87% of cities have achieved coordinated development between competitiveness and ESCER. Some coastal areas, often with a high CCD, are improving resource use efficiency and environmental benefits through economic agglomeration. From the perspective of the CCD collaboration network, the positive correlation accounts for about 85%, which reveals that most adjacent regions can cooperate on the road of coordinated development. (3) While differences exist in the coordinated development of UC-ESCER across various regions, social factors predominantly influence the obstacles affecting coordinated development. Specifically, a substantial barrier to the concordant progression of most cities is the number of patent applications, underscoring the pivotal role of innovation in aligning UC with ESCER.

A Study on the Influence of Sports Event Industry on Urban Competitiveness under Urban Competitiveness Theory—Taking the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games as an Example

A Study on the Influence of Sports Event Industry on Urban Competitiveness under Urban Competitiveness Theory—Taking the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games as an Example

Fan Culture of Urban Communication: Exploring Urban Branding Through Social Platforms

Under the background of the rapid development of new media technology, the cultural development between cities has become increasingly important. At present, the development of digital media has spawned a new form different from the traditional fan culture. With the widespread use of social media platforms, fan culture and live broadcasting industry play a crucial role in shaping urban brands and enhancing urban competitiveness. Based on this background, this paper will conduct a comprehensive analysis of urban culture through literature research and summary, conduct quantitative research and platform content analysis, and study the influence of fan culture on the construction of urban brands through social media.

The Protection of Urban Spatial Structures in Historic Cities: A Multi-Actor Perspective of the Cultural Space Construction in Fuzhou, China

Currently, the role of culture in urban competitiveness is becoming increasingly important. How historic cities identify and protect the spatial structures formed since ancient times, which are the carriers of urban culture, has become an important issue. Fuzhou was awarded the first Global Sustainable Development City in 2023, indicating that it has a set of sustainable models that can be promoted in various aspects, including cultural sustainable development models. As a traditional way to show the spirit of cities, cultural spaces in Fuzhou have existed for 2200 years, which helps us to conduct systematic research. This study explores the role of multiple actors in the preservation and development of urban cultural spaces, using Fuzhou, China, as a case study. Employing historical atlas translation to extract lists and locations of cultural spaces, and GIS technology to display spatial patterns, our research reveals distinctive spatial distribution characteristics of various cultural spaces and the urban structure shaped by diverse stakeholders’ needs. Our findings illustrate the background and distribution pattern of cultural space construction by multi-actors in different periods, offering references for maintaining contemporary urban spatial structure and insights into the sustainable preservation of urban cultural heritage.

문화적 도시경쟁력 강화를 위한 문화정책 연구

This study focused on examining recent trends and solutions for urban revitalization through cultural means, responding to the heightened concerns and growing interests of many cities in augmenting the value and competitiveness of city. Accordingly,a case study of the Gongju Cultural City Center was conducted as a model to address the enhancement of urban competitiveness through cultural means, focusing on aspects such as facility expansion, population growth, and the activation of economic activities from a problem-solving perspective. Gongju City was designated as a cultural city by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism(2021). Leveraging preliminary investigations and specialized textual studies, it has spearheaded specific projects focusing on future cultural heritage domains. As a core project, efforts were made to enhance the competitiveness of the region and the city through initiatives such as the Gongju Art Shop Street and the Gallery Weekly Project. Analytical results revealed significant achievements across all aspects related to urban competitiveness, including the expansion of cultural facilities, population growth and development, and the activation of economic activities. To enhance the role and sustainability of the Cultural City Center, it is considered essential to facilitate diverse collaboration among various stakeholders and engage in multifaceted consultations with administrative bodies from the planning to the execution stages of a broader spectrum of initiatives. This study is considered valuable not only for establishing theoretical frameworks but also as foundational data that can be utilized in the field for deriving future directions and advancements in the Cultural City project.

메가시티 서울 담론을 통한 서울 확대론에 대한 논고

This paper is supposed to review critically the arguments for expanding the administrative area of Seoul City, focusing on the Seoul Megacity initiative sparked recently by the ruling party on Korean Political arena. The nuts and bolts of the initiative are letting Seoul to be a Megacity by enlarging it's administrative area, and to fix up the mismatch problems in living areas and strengthen Seoul's urban competitiveness. And as it's typical models, Tokyo Metropolis, Osaka Prefecture, Greater London, and Grand Paris were frequently brought up. Therefore, the task of this paper is to examine what a megacity is and whether it really means expansion of Seoul's administrative district. In addition, it is discussed whether it is contextually consistent with the cases of Tokyo, Osaka, London, and Paris. As the claimants of “Bigger Seoul” are clamouing for, Megacity as a single large city mainly refers to super large cities in developing countries and is associated with urban problems such as slums. Additionally, Tokyo and Osaka were established through the Prefecture-Abolishing processes of Japan in 19th Century, not the urbanization process. Moreover, Greater London and Grand Paris take charge of only wide range functions while leave the functions for small cities to the many cities and small municipalities under the bigger government. So they have nothing to do with expanding the administrative area of their central cities. For the competitive of large cities, the lingkage-oriented concepts like city-region, mega-city region or megaregion are more suitable, than the size-oriented one like megacity.

Assessment of the economic security of Baltic port cities’ competitiveness

City competitiveness is a complex product of local and international conditions, local characteristics, social and economic superstructure, and the actions of individual companies. Although many scientific studies have examined the country’s and urban competitiveness, the competitiveness of port cities still needs to be assessed comprehensively, taking into account their crucial economic role. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the competitiveness and economic security of the Baltic port cities (Klaipėda, Riga, and Tallinn). Statistical processing and multi-criteria evaluation methods (SAW, COPRAS, and TOPSIS) were chosen to achieve this goal. The comparative analysis showed that the population change in port cities is not significant for the final result of the competitiveness assessment, and the unemployment rate in port cities is lower than in the country. The assessment of the competitiveness of port cities from the point of view of economic security shows (after checking such indicators as unemployment rate, company income, and infrastructure) that Tallinn is the most competitive port city according to the three multi-criteria evaluation methods, while Klaipėda is the least competitive. The assessment was carried out in three stages to monitor changes in the situation of port cities, compared to changes in a certain indicator and the costs of timely solutions or the improvement of the city’s position in relation to other cities.

Benchmarking urban competitiveness for economic recovery: an application to Porto and Lisbon

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the competitive potential of different classes of municipalities within larger metropolitan areas, considering three dimensions of place competitiveness, associated to contemporary economic recovery agendas: the “dual transition” (green and digital) and socio-economic resilience.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed methodology is divided in two stages, the first aiming at developing a new Index of Urban Competitiveness, based on three key dimensions of place development, by using principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis; the second intends to identify municipalities’ main competitive assets, throughout the examination of the existing links between the overall competitiveness index and intra-metropolitan place conditions in each dimension. This methodology is applied to the metropolitan areas of Porto and Lisbon.FindingsThe analysis shows a weak link between population size and urban competitiveness, suggesting that economic recovery investments primarily targeting larger municipalities will not necessarily lead to greater metropolitan competitive advantages. On the contrary, taking into consideration place-based interventions for different “clubs” of municipalities would more likely contribute to enhance competitive performance and valorise territorial assets. Furthermore, while the relationship between competitiveness and environmental performance appears to be non-linear, digitalization and economic and social resilience prove to be key for urban competitive potential.Originality/valueBy drawing on contemporary notions of urban competitiveness, the work proposes a revised method to evaluate competitiveness, latent qualities and intrinsic features of places, constituting an initial step to conceive suitable metropolitan development and investment strategies for economic recovery.

SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME THE URBAN CRISIS

Problem statement. Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine led to an urban crisis that affected all aspects of life, including housing conditions, quality of life, ecology, unemployment, and urban competitiveness. The question about the future of the city is a question about the meaning of the city. Urban development is a key element of a country's stability and growth. Terrible events became one of the causes of environmental, demographic, and urban crises. To overcome them, it is necessary to develop programs that would encourage other countries to finance and invest in our state, create conditions for attracting migrants. The purpose of the article is to analyze the problems that arose as a result of the urban crisis and search for effective solutions to overcome them. Within the framework of the article, the trends of modern urban planning are considered and the aspects that need to be paid attention to when designing new or rebuilding old cities are substantiated. As a starting housing option for returning Ukrainians and foreigners, an innovative format for the reconstruction of “Khrushchev” buildings for rational use of space is proposed. Conclusions. Considering russia's influence on the urbanism of Ukraine and its pre-war state, it is difficult to determine the fate of the city, if even the country has not determined it. It is necessary to pay attention to the peculiarities of each city before rebuilding it. The main goal of a comfortable city is a high level of life quality, which means providing residents with the opportunity to have quality housing, free access to green areas and parks, cultural, educational and sports facilities, medical care and transport infrastructure. The concept of a “comfortable city” is a solution to the crisis after the return of peace and independence.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON COMPETITIVENESS OF TOURIST DESTINATION CITIES

This manuscript aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on competitiveness of the 22 major tourist destination cities. It contributes to the studies and academic literatures of urban competitiveness by analyzing that impact on perspectives of these cities between the pre-and post-COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Thailand. The data from official documents and spatial survey were employed for the method of Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) analysis. The results reveal that the competitiveness has been reduced by the pandemic especially on the international tourist destination cities. It also finds that other perspectives of competitiveness such as revenue, budget, gross product are decreased after that period of time. Additionally, the rankings of competitiveness among these cities are also changed as well. The results suggest that the key factors for recovery these cities are the necessaries to pay more attention to all perspectives of competitiveness by re-allocating recourses for responses at different kinds of spatial configurations.

Coastline eco-efficiency and sustainable development of Bohai Rim cities

Improving coastline eco-efficiency and pursuing sustainable development are key factors for ensuring that coastal cities efficiently develop tertiary industries and improve their urban competitiveness. In this study, we applied an eco-efficiency measurement model to evaluate coastline eco-efficiency and analyzed the coordinated social economy (SE) and ecological environment (EE) development data of 13 Bohai Rim cities to explore issues facing sustainable development and determine appropriate countermeasures. The findings revealed notable variations in the coastline eco-efficiency among the prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2019. Based on the results obtained from the SE and EE systems, we classified the development status of the cities into four categories: orderly development (I), EE lag (II), SE lag (III), and development lag (IV). The region is facing four main challenges associated with an imbalance in the urban scale structure, individual development trend, industrial structure layout, and motivational force of urban development. To ensure the future of the Bohai Sea region, integrated urban agglomeration, functional areas, and region-wide marine economic cooperation should be promoted. Moreover, it is crucial to enhance the application capacity and allocation efficiency of existing technologies, thereby improving coastline eco-efficiency and fostering high-quality urban development.

URBAN REGENERATION IN SEOUL: Alternative Urbanism or the Resilience of Neoliberal Urbanism?

AbstractPark Won‐soon, the former mayor of Seoul, put forward a new vision of Seoul as a progressive city, and one of his signatures was the promotion of a new urban regeneration policy called the Seoul‐type Urban Regeneration Model (SUR). It was first presented as a solution to compressed and profit‐oriented urban redevelopment but evolved into an alternative model which conveyed the worlding desire of the Seoul Metropolitan Government to redefine Asian urbanism beyond developmentalism or neoliberalism. In this article, we argue that the SUR demonstrates a mixture of post‐developmentalist features and the lingering impact of neoliberal rationalities. Specifically, we problematize SUR's hybrid aspirations for urban competitiveness, improved quality of life and participatory governance by articulating how the pursuit of a globally competitive city conflicts with and overrides other values and how citizen‐centered governance was exploited as an efficient mechanism of neoliberal urbanism.