In the quest of globalising, cities have had to adopt competitive strategies to aid in the attraction of investment and economic and developmental growth. Airports became spaces
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which hold a wide range of activities that assist in driving economic activity. The key drivers of economic development are infrastructure, investments within the area and also airports.
Harris (2007) and Begg (1999) elaborate that cities measure competitiveness in an effort to benchmark their strengths against another city. The overall indicator of competitiveness within cities being an improved quality of life and higher standard of living (Begg, 1999).
However, Harris (2007) further explains that, “cities do compete but they also depend on collaborating with each other. Each city provides the market for the output of all the others, so each has an interest in the prosperity and economic expansion of its competitors (p.6).”
Huggins and Clifton (2011) also support this view by noting that competitiveness results in city regions comparing and contrasting by means of improving each other. Harris (2007) expands that although cities competed, their competitiveness was determined and under the control of the central government.
The introduction of competitive cities is bringing a new concept of urban entrepreneurialism in spatial planning (OECD, 2007). In summary, these entrepreneurial elements hope to foster and encourage economic development. New age cities require the government to play a different role to one that they are accustomed. Senior economist at the World Bank and a global expert on industrial development, innovation and competitiveness, Zhihua Zeng (2016) highlights that central government is required to maintain stakeholder relations and create a conducive business environment by being proactive in shaping policies and also playing a facilitative role. Begg (1999) observes that urban policies should enable and facilitate the shift towards competitiveness with the local government sphere being granted more autonomy nationally so that they can adopt a more creative approach.
Kresl (1995), who is the author of various books in economics and subject expert on economic strategies, has made a clear intention to demystify ‘urban competitiveness’. The key attributes that Kresl focuses on when dealing with city competitiveness are:
Jobs created should be high-skill, high income jobs;
Production should evolve towards environmentally benign goods and services;
Production should be concentrated in goods and services with desirable characteristics, such as high income elasticity of demand;
The rate of economic growth should be appropriate to achieve full employment without generating the negative aspects of overstressed markets;
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The city should specialize in activities that will enable it to gain control over its future, that is, to choose among alternative futures rather than passively accepting its lot;
The city should be able to enhance its position in the urban hierarchy. (Kresl, 1995, p.51).
The notion of competitive cities have changed the paradigm of city planning and require that local government now have more autonomy in planning requirements. Harris (2007) attests that, “the idea of a city competing presupposes a degree of autonomy, a measure of decentralization of powers of urban management that often lacked” (p.5). Porter (1996) also makes a clear point that economic value of cities should not be diminished for business competitiveness as cities play a necessary role in determining and supporting market competitiveness. The thriving market in an area cannot look at its efforts in isolation without acknowledging the role of city facilitation.
Underpinning city competitiveness is specifying the city’s purpose. City identity guides the understanding of the performance indicators that can be used to evaluate success.In the context of Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg is one of the adjacent cities that it benefits from being in close proximity. Johannesburg is the economic hub of South Africa and contributes and stimulates significant traffic into the city. With Ekurhuleni’s ambiguous identity, the city is leveraging strongly on the brand of the City of Johannesburg to attract traffic flows.
The one area which is perceived as useful is specialised economics zones. Zhihua Zeng (2016), Harris (2007) and Begg (1999) all attest to the fact that in order for a city to be competitive, the city must be able to develop its own local assets within the correct context.
Zhihua Zeng (2016) emphasises that, “specialised economic zones can be effective instruments to promote industrialisation implemented properly in the right location” (p.2).
Begg (1999) stresses context, industry specialty and economic structure as significant for city competitiveness. There is however a contradiction to some theories as observed in Begg (1999) that innovation is at the fore of city competitiveness and that cities only grow when they are specialising with growing industries.
It is highlighted that competitive city should not be perceived in the tradition competition perspective where it is expected that it will equate to a ‘zero sum game’. The ‘zero sum
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game’ in economics game theory simply explains the notion that the total benefit to all parties participating in the game, always reach a summation of zero, equating to player benefits being only at the equal expense of others’(Guillermo,1995). Due to its ‘win or lose’ nature, one shortfall of the zero-sum game is that it does not become an appropriate environment for policy deliberation (Puetter, 2016).
Zhihua Zeng (2016) and Harris (2007) also expand that competitiveness in the urban environment occurs regionally and even globally. Sassen (2005) highlights that cities are preferred sites for the production of these services, particularly the most innovative, speculative, internationalized service sectors, even at time information services are place bound due to combination of resources. However, there is also cooperation amongst cities through specialisation and exchange of goods inevitably results in cities enhancing each other’s economic value and capacity (Harris, 2007).
The formulation of the Gauteng City Region (GCR) is the recognition of the need for cooperation and enhancement within a region. The researcher for GCRO, Greenberg (2010, p.25) explains that, “the city-region concept is theoretically based on a reduction of competition and a rise in cooperation to coordinate economic activities in the region”. This brings about the focus of gaining economies of scale regionally to be able to compete in the global platform.
2.4.1 Branding within Competitive Cities
Within the globalized world, cities have faced inter competition amongst each other. World Cities are in competition for many components, namely, economic livelihood and attention, talent pool, innovation and creativity (Konijnendijk, 2010). This has led to a quest for cities to find ways of differentiate themselves to attract trade investment and people within the space. Cities are said to have evolved from a random promotional enticement of cities to applying a marketing as part of public planning tool box of instruments (Kavaratzis &
Ashworth, 2005).
Therefore, cities are regarded as products which can be used to entice people similarly to the case of corporate branding. A branding study by Lucarelli and Berg (2011) reflected that more than half of city branding models that were proposed in European cities were based on traditional branding and marketing models. This reflects the transition of cities now
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integrating with various commercial disciplines in order to remain relevant in a globalized world. One prominent examples is the branding of the city of Amsterdam in Netherlands into the ‘I AMsterdam’ brand. “‘I AMsterdam’ is the motto that creates the brand for the city and people of Amsterdam” (Amsterdam, 2017, p.1).
City branding is regarded as a mental function. “Place branding centres on people’s perceptions and images and put them at the heart of orchestrated activities, designed to shape the place and its future” (Kavaratzis & Ashworth, 2005, p.505). Dinnie (2013) reflects a concern that cities should be acknowledged as the diverse and complex places they are and marketing should not take a linear focus into a single industry when engaging in place branding. This brings about caution to the positioning of Ekurhuleni as stringently aviation-orientated brand. Ekurhuleni may need to find a way to incorporate other industries of expertise and future memorable experiences so as to not lose the dynamic element of the city.
Although corporate branding bares resemblance to place branding, one should bear in mind that with democratic nations, a single clear identity becomes difficult to reach. Kavaratzis and Ashworth (2005) explain that this is due to, “the open expression of alternatives rather than concealing them within a spurious communal unanimity” (p.511). It is therefore critical for even the identity of the area to be inclusive and also created through an inclusive process with all stakeholders. The city brand should still resonate with city residents and attempt not to be alienating or exclusionary.