29-03-2007

As processes of globalisation deepen, the pursuit of competitiveness in urban regions has become a major policy objective for local and central governments. The importance of cities and metropolitan areas in their national economies and their crucial role as global nodes in the international market place is gaining attention.

There is a general feeling, shared by a wide range of local and national government representatives, that the current approach to urban policy is not adequate to deal with the new challenges faced by large cities in the context of increasing competition at the global scale. In particular, there is an increasing acknowledgment of the importance of policies to address the specific issues of cities in OECD countries, not only using remedial actions to tackle traditional urban problems such as combating urban sprawl, declining neighbourhoods, and concentrations of social and environmental problems, but also using more proactive actions to foster city attractiveness and competitiveness.

The objective of this conference will be to engage a wide range of stakeholders, including city leaders and regional and central government representatives, in considering a broader approach to urban policy. The challenge for future policy is intellectual, practical and, of course, political. There is a need for better understanding of the way globalising processes are having different sorts of impacts upon major urban areas and not just strengthening the prominent roles of a handful of “global cities” within the international urban hierarchy. Moreover, if in the future explicit urban policies are to move beyond their traditional concern with dealing “urban problems” and help cities benefit from as well as cope with the implications of globalisation, two key questions need to be raised.

The conference sessions are designed to unfold these issues by:

The outcome of the conference will be described in the publication of the proceedings that will provide valuable input for setting an analytical framework for the OECD forthcoming work on “assessing national urban policy”. It will also set the basis of a new international policy dialogue among city mayors and national government representatives at the OECD.

The conference programme can be found on the conference website (see link below).

Madrid, Spain