Meeting the aspirations of the four million people a month coming to cities in
search of higher-quality jobs and higher incomes will require cities to achieve
sustained growth. That means that cities will have to engage effectively in a
complex and challenging managerial task. To avoid constraints on growth,
urban policy makers need to plan the urban environment to include sufficient
housing and efficient transportation, ensure that sufficient finance is available to
support both operational and capital spending on services including electricity,
telecommunications, and water, and, through smart regulation, provide an
environment that encourages entrepreneurialism and business investment.
In the near term, cities that are able to invest ahead of the curve and operate
effectively are likely to attract more productive companies and create more,
and higher-skilled, jobs. Importantly, these factors will help the cities to create a
platform for sustained growth once they have passed through their phase of rapid
urbanization and reaped its benefits.42