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
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