Six case studies of economically successful cities

This paper is part of a broader research initiative, the Competitive Cities Knowledge Base, which is managed jointly by the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice and the Social, Urban, Rural, and Resilience Global Practice of the World Bank Group. Its objective is to create a knowledge base on competitive cities, to improve the understanding of job creation at city level and as a foundation for a community of practice on this topic for World Bank staff, academia, donor partners, and practitioners. The objective of this paper is to synthesize the findings of six individual case studies (Bucaramanga, Colombia; Coimbatore, India; Kigali, Rwanda; Gaziantep, Turkey; Changsha, China; and Tangier, Morocco) by analyzing the similarities and dissimilarities among them and identifying common, cross-cutting themes. The intent is to highlight what institutions and strategies successful cities have relied on to spur economic development, under what conditions such success has occurred, and what lessons of this experience might be applicable to decision makers in other cities.The individual case study reports, which appear in the appendixes, were based on primary and secondary research, including approximately two to three weeks spent in each city during 2014.