city vitals: how do we measure the success of cities?

October 11, 2011

Robert Weissbourd

City Vitals: How Do We Measure the Success of Cities?

CEOs for Cities 2011 Fall National Meeting

Data for What Purposes? Strategic - driven by desired outcomes Quality not Quantity - “answers, not data” User Driven - no ‘data dumps’; no ‘map madness’ User Friendly - task and market oriented Customized - specialized to user needs and

systems Current - up-to-date, recurring Standardized - broad coverage and usability Translating Research to Practice: Determining the Right Information Resources to

Drive Change

Metropolitan Business Planning

Leverage Points

for Sustainable and Inclusive

Prosperity

EnhanceRegional

Concentrations

DeployHuman CapitalAligned with

Job Pools

DevelopInnovation-

EnablingInfrastructure

Increase Spatial

Efficiency

Create EffectivePublic & Civic

Culture & Institutions

Similar view of importance and function of innovation; many overlapping metrics

Possible additional factors Business Dynamics

Metrics: Churn, employment turnover

Research and DevelopmentMetrics: Academic R&D

expenditures

DEGREE OF OVERLAP( %)

Heavy overlap, more exclusive emphasis on networks/connections rather than broader efficiency of moving people, goods, ideas

Possible additional factors: Transit Accessibility Jobs-Housing Mismatch Density

Except for citizen engagement, less focus on the institutional environment for economic success

Possible additional factors: Government Fragmentation Tax-Value Proposition Governance

Agreement on importance of human capital; different understanding of drivers/practice

Possible additional factors: Alignment with Job

Creation/Market Demand Labor Market Efficiency Job Structure (middle skills) and

Mobility

Different view of role, and particularly cause and effect, with respect to amenities.

Additional factors important on margins (and intra-metro): Good Housing and Safety Proposition Retail Services Access to Job Centers

Limited focus on the production side of the economy (harder to reduce to metrics); some similar top line metrics

Possible additional factors: Productivity and GRP Growth in Concentrated

Industries and Functions Specializations in Emerging

Knowledge Sectors

October 11, 2011

Robert Weissbourd

CEOs for Cities 2011 Fall National Meeting

DISCUSSION

High HC Occupation

s

Productive Industries

Knowledge Functions

It’s not the Chicken or the Egg – It’s the Incubator

Active Human Capital Industry

IT’S ABOUT PRODUCTIVITY

To Attract Knowledge Workers, Build an Economy Characterized by High-Human Capital

Occupations and Functions

Knowledge Workers