Benchmarking urban competitiveness for economic recovery: an application to Porto and Lisbon

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2024-06-15

Authors

Sgambati, S (Author) Other; Carvalho, L (Author) FEP

Journal

Title: Journal of Place Management and Development

Vol. 17

Pages: 90-110

ISSN: 1753-8335

Publisher: Emerald

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 2 Citations

Scopus - 2 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00Z-5WQ

DOI: 10.1108/jpmd-03-2023-0019

Abstract (EN): PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the competitive potential of different classes of municipalities within larger metropolitan areas, considering three dimensions of place competitiveness, associated to contemporary economic recovery agendas: the dual transition (green and digital) and socio-economic resilience.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed methodology is divided in two stages, the first aiming at developing a new Index of Urban Competitiveness, based on three key dimensions of place development, by using principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis; the second intends to identify municipalities' main competitive assets, throughout the examination of the existing links between the overall competitiveness index and intra-metropolitan place conditions in each dimension. This methodology is applied to the metropolitan areas of Porto and Lisbon.FindingsThe analysis shows a weak link between population size and urban competitiveness, suggesting that economic recovery investments primarily targeting larger municipalities will not necessarily lead to greater metropolitan competitive advantages. On the contrary, taking into consideration place-based interventions for different clubs of municipalities would more likely contribute to enhance competitive performance and valorise territorial assets. Furthermore, while the relationship between competitiveness and environmental performance appears to be non-linear, digitalization and economic and social resilience prove to be key for urban competitive potential.Originality/valueBy drawing on contemporary notions of urban competitiveness, the work proposes a revised method to evaluate competitiveness, latent qualities and intrinsic features of places, constituting an initial step to conceive suitable metropolitan development and investment strategies for economic recovery.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 21