Sustaining Local Economic Development in Secondary Cities

Samina Yasmin

Facilitator

November 7, 2024 | 17:00 - 18:30

Multipurpose room 08

IHS, Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam

Netherlands

English

Reference:

NE 08-09

WUF12

Networking Events

Summary

The event discusses innovative collaborative models to scale and sustain local economic development in secondary cities in the global South. Secondary cities in the global South grow fast, exacerbating un- and underemployment, inequality, and pollution.

In Bangladesh, as in many other countries in the global South, local governments have no clear mandate and very limited capacities and resources to sustainably develop their local economies. The PRABRIDDHI project has developed an innovative partnership methodology to develop local economies in the context of limited local resources and capacity. This ‘Bangla model’ gives a voice to local stakeholders, such as associations of (informal) firms, chambers of commerce and (informal) business owners. In eight secondary cities, local economic development committees have been set up comprising local government and other local actors. Following a rapid economic appraisal and consultation processes, the committees design quick wins to develop an economic sector with potential. The model boosts remarkable local impact across secondary cities and sectors, including employment creation, women empowerment, youth entrepreneurship and improved safety on markets. Following these successes, Bangladesh aims to develop national policies and support mechanisms, but these are not yet in place. We therefore draw on experiences from Brazil and South Africa, two countries with strong policies and support mechanisms based on a long history with local economic development.

The session is structured in two parts.

Part 1 comprises short presentations and discussions. It starts with a video and presentation on the experiences of secondary cities in Bangladesh, leading to a discussion on the innovative partnership model in Bangladesh. This is followed by two presentations on the policies and support mechanisms of local economic development in South Africa and Brazil. Avril Bundale (Public Finance and Economic Development, UN Habitat) links the experiences to UN Habitat strategies.

Part 2 comprises a world café. We invite participants to discuss and share experiences around four questions: (1) is the ‘Bangla’ model applicable in other countries as well and what alternative models exist? ; (2) what minimum capacities should local actors have?; (3) what national policies and support mechanisms are needed to enable local partnerships on local economic development?; (4) what are incentives for local governments to engage in innovative partnerships on local economic development? Participants can join three groups for 15 minutes each. Each 15 min session discusses the question and strives for international networking and knowledge sharing.

Objectives

Secondary cities face wicked problems related to among others urban poverty, unemployment, poor working conditions, and pollution. While the population residing in secondary cities in the global South grows fast, most secondary cities have limited political visibility, capacity, and resources to address these problems. Global attention and local action are urgently needed to address these problems simultaneously. Within this context, the objective of the session is to relate innovative local partnership models on local economic development to global debates on partnerships to alleviate poverty by creating sustainable employment in resource and capacity constraint environments.

Specific objectives of the networking event are to:
1. Establish global networks on local economic development in resource- and capacity-constraint secondary cities in the global South. The global engagements would aim to share information and give secondary cities a voice in global debates.
2. Share lessons learned on innovative and inclusive partnership models on local economic development in secondary cities in Bangladesh. The partnerships offer a state-of-the-art example of inclusive partnerships offering tangible quick wins. The session discusses its application in other contexts.
3. Discuss how to accelerate and sustain local economic development in secondary cities with resource- and capacity-constraints. We draw on best practices from Bangladesh, Brazil, and South Africa.