Greg Clark

Speaker Greg Clark Keynote Topics

Cities after the crisis

• Cities and Regions, the next economy, and new development cycle.

This speech draw upon Greg’s recent research for OECD, UCLG, and other on what responses cities and regions have made to the economic crisis. Based on detailed research into more than 50 cities it shows how and why cities and regions have been impacted differently and have responses differently.

Drawing upon Greg’s review of city indexes in 2010 and 2011 in shows how the system and network of cities across the world is changed and changing after the crisis.  Greg draws conclusions for cities at different stages and locations and suggest what is needed to succeed in the new cycle.

• Local economic leadership.

This speech covers the important role of Local Government in Economic Development and pays particular attention to the role of local government leaders in building economic agendas and alliances with multiple stakeholders to take forwards long term economic development strategies. Examples are given from cities and regions around the world and the ingredients for success are highlighted.

Business and the City-Regions

• The Business of Cities. 

This speech addresses why and how cities have become important emerging markets for companies, how companies can develop long term trusted relationships with cities, and what the benefits will be.

This speech also focuses on the specific roles that business leaders can play in making their metropolitan areas more prosperous, and a better platform for continued commercial success. It draws upon examples of business leadership groups from around the world.

• What are the global cities learning from global businesses?

It is often said that cities are in business. This speech looks at how far the experience of cities is like that of businesses and what is being learned by the world’s global cities from world’s global companies.

• What do businesses want from cities? What do cities want from businesses?

This speech recognizes that business success is critical for cities and that city success is essential to the businesses located within them. It then develops a shared agenda for how business and cities can work together to achieve mutual benefit.

Leadership and Place.

• What does a mayor do for a metropolitan area?

This speech looks at the role of mayors and other leaders in helping to forge cohesive metropolitan areas despite fragmented local government boundaries and structures. It identifies the metropolitan dividend that can be achieved and the means to get there.

• The Mayor’s Tools and Tales: global stories from City Halls.

This light-hearted speech articulates some of the best stories from city halls across the world; focusing upon the unusual and innovative things that mayors have had to do to get their job done. He reflects on the tools that Mayors’ have at their disposal, indicates the importance of innovation, but argues that leadership is the key tool whatever the resources may be.

• Why city and regional strategies fail and how to put them right.

This speech identifies the key reasons that city and regional strategies fail and shows how strategies can be formulated with a greater chance of success. The speech is based on research into more than 100 strategies that have been developed but not successfully implemented.

Investment in cities.

• Financing the Future: City and Regional Investment Gaps, Strategies and Tools.

The speech identifies the world’s best practices in city and regional investment and explains how the financial instruments work and the outcomes they can achieve. It also identifies the critical success factors of new financing tools and offers salient case studies of where new tools have failed and succeeded. After the crisis, the search for new investment tools and approaches are on. What can we learn from the response of the market so far?

• City and regional Development; investment or expenditure? 10 principles for city and regional finance.

This speech makes the case for great investment in cities and regions as a basis for long term returns and success in the modern economy. It shows how public and private sectors can work together to achieve city and regional investment and growth.

City Branding and Territorial Marketing

• New markets and new brands for cities and regions.

This speech focuses on the link between globalisation, economic mobility, and city branding, drawing out the conclusion that cities face a period of intense contested opportunity and challenge. It argues for a fresh approach to city branding based on a broader assessment of markets and a more profound understanding of distinct territorial assets.

Making Cities and Regions Work

The Reinvention of London: recent innovations from Europe’s Global City.

This speech covers both London’s historic experience and success with urban regeneration and provides an overall review of London’s governance including the London Mayoralcy and Greater London Government, The London Plan, congestion charging, affordable housing, childcare, Olympics 2012, diversity, resilience, new tools and strategies, and wider aspects of London’s renaissance.

Development agencies: what is the best in class? 

This speech draws upon Greg’s 2010 book for the OECD on local and regional development agencies and covers the role of development agencies as key tools of city and regional development, and it provided insights into how and when development agencies succeed.

The Mayor’s tool box: what are the instruments of delivery? 

This speech looked at the role of Mayors in delivering leadership and change for cities and their regions and it provided insights from case studies from around the world.

Cities, Regions, Nations and Globalisation

• Can nations succeed without cities? 

This speech looked at the new roles of cities in national success and asked whether national Governments could help cities more to succeed: and should they?

• The world Cities: globalisation, city-strategy, and the new frontiers.

The speech focused on the challenges and opportunities facing the world’s most successful cities. Taking London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo as its starting point; it also addressed the challenges of such cities as Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto, Miami, Milano, Frankfurt, Sydney, and Johannesburg. The speech draws upon Greg’s detailed research on the world’s 24 leading cities.

• The mega-cities; can they become world leaders?

The speech looks at the situation of the mega-cities (over 10,000,000 people) in the middle income countries and asks that they can do to become world cities. It starts with the challenges facing Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Istanbul, Moscow, Cairo, Mumbai, and Seoul, and identifies the strategies that might work, and the different needs that have to be addressed. The speech draws upon Greg’s detailed research on the world’s 24 leading cities.

• Open Cities. How cities can benefit from diverse populations: the competitive advantage of diversity. Hub strategies and open-ness in global cities.

This speech is based on Greg’s 5 published reports for the British council on Open Cities. It argues that population diversity is critical to city and regional success. It advances 8 propositions about how population diversity can work to support cities and identifies practical challenges and actions that can be taken.

• What cities can achieve by hosting global events? Do cities and regions need foreign policies?

The speech draws upon Greg’s best-selling book for the OECD. It looks at the phenomenon of global events (Olympics, Festivals, Expos, Trade Fairs, and Summits) and asks how cities and regions can benefit from hosting them. It provides checklist of how to assess the usefulness of such an event for cities and regions and an action plan to ensure that long term benefits are really achieved.

• City and regional success: Lessons from Europe, North America, and Asia.

The speech compares the different and distinctive lesions emerging from Europe, North America, and Asia on successful approaches to city and regional development.

• Capital cities and economic development.

This speech looks at the development potential of capital cities. It starts with London, Edinburgh, Ottawa, Canberra, Helsinki, Washington DC, Pretoria, and Athens and develops a case for capital city development strategies which are distinctive and based on the assets that capital city functions provide.

• Economic inclusion in Cities: Full Employment Strategies for Cities.

The speech starts with the challenge that employment levels in cities remain stubbornly below those of nations and develop a specific set of measures to achieve full employment in cities.