New Cities and Concepts of Value

Building for Value: If you build it, will they come? New cities as valuable places to do business
that the job of the city is to simply allow
entrepreneurs to operate easily and do
what they do best. From there, clusters form
organically around leading businesses.
Encouraging transitions from academics
to real world development and developing
‘indigenous startups’ is an important
process for new cities to consider.
Facilitating homegrown innovation can
help retain university students beyond
graduation and create employment through
a network of small startups. While attracting
large corporations and international
investment remains an important goal, the
role of small and medium sized business
is becoming a key focus for contemporary
new cities.
Providing support to help businesses set
up is another strong advantage new cities
can offer. It is essential that they have a
transparent business environment and
that their regulation, procedures, and
business incentives be straightforward and
well-known. For example, the Economic
Cities Authority in Saudi Arabia is a one-stop
shop providing assistance to businesses on
permitting processes in KAEC. This is a good
demonstration of how government can
partner with new cities to encourage easy
set-up and operation for new investors.
Creating Value for Business
Globalization, urbanization and rapid
technological advancement has changed
the way businesses operate. Developing
the right combination of factors, both
tangible (city features, facilities, amenities)
and intangible (financial incentives, safety,
beauty, identity), that can convince business
that a city is right for them is an enormous
challenge facing new cities.
While this competition pits new cities
against older urban centers that have the
advantage of an established population,
the former can consider various strategies
that take advantage of their ‘newness’.
The ability to integrate technologies
from the earliest stages of development
and cater the built environment to the
needs of contemporary research facilities,
businesses, the workforce, and families is a
great competitive advantage.
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