Western Balkans and Croatia Urbanization and Territorial Review
To accelerate growth and create jobs, the Western Balkans and Croatia will need faster economic growth generated by advanced industries and services that usually concentrate in cities. Raising the competitiveness of leading cities will thus be the...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/404331565242902772/Main-Report http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32308 |
| Summary: | To accelerate growth and create jobs,
the Western Balkans and Croatia will need faster economic
growth generated by advanced industries and services that
usually concentrate in cities. Raising the competitiveness
of leading cities will thus be the priority for growth and
job creation in the region. At the same time addressing the
challenges of places left behind will be increasingly
important for shared prosperity and sustainable growth.
European Union (EU) accession, technological changes, and
globalization are most likely to create growth opportunities
that will favor cities and their agglomeration economies.
These trends, if left unchecked, are also more likely to
increase spatial welfare disparities. This report advocates
for a stronger focus on cities, especially capital cities
and their metro regions, as engines of growth and job
creation. It also argues for policymakers to focus on
lagging regions to address spatial welfare disparities
likely to increase with the concentration of people and
economic activity in fewer places. |
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