This refers to the governance or decision-making framework for competitiveness and includes the political and legal systems of government, public-private collaboration, and the timing of major reforms. A city’s ability to tax, plan, legislate, and enforce laws and regulations strongly correlate with competiveness and require strong institutions. Leadership is part of the equation in how institutions factor into competitiveness but how these institutions emerge, how social capital is built, and how cooperation are more nuanced considerations when thinking about institutions and competitiveness.
• “Hard connectivity”/ physical capital (infrastructure, transport, telecommunications)
The quality of physical capital highly correlates with the competitiveness of a city. Hard connectivity connects people to energy, water, communications, etc. and therefore allows people to capitalize on their waterways, ports, railroads, highways, etc. in order to further drive productivity and sustain economic growth.
• Easy maritime access
In terms of improvement in competitiveness, cities with easy maritime access have shown to be the fastest risers. Landlocked cities or those with more difficult seaport access have been amongst those who …show more content…
While defaults are rare, financial debt – especially those primarily related to health care- and housing-related projects – indicates a risk to investors. In the case of Chicago, the increasingly large pension liabilities have lowered the credit rating of the city and have therefore signaled to investors that Chicago – in spite of the rarity of defaults – may not be the safest place to loan their funds. Without those municipal bonds, cities then lose the capital means not only for new infrastructure construction, non-profit institutions, and economic development but also for the maintenance of already existing infrastructure (“Chicago Budget