Improved city competitiveness is a much sought after property of most economies. However, there still seems to be little agreement either on what the term competitiveness means or on how policy intervention should try to enhance it. Cities around the world are undergoing fundamental change, and many of these changes are associated with transport investments. The range of potential factors influencing city competitiveness is potentially very wide, with transport clearly playing an, as yet, undefined role in providing for the 'right business environment'. This paper reports on a literature review that considers a series of key issues and questions: For example, what is meant by city competitiveness? What is transport's role in city competitiveness? What does the research evidence tell us? The paper concludes with a call for an approach that integrates the economic, social and qualitative aspects of city development, together with a short agenda for further research. For the covering abstract see ITRD E126595.
Abstract