Brookings

The Business of Cities first began working directly with The Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program in 2012, at the start of the Global Cities Initiative, a joint project of Brookings and JPMorgan Chase & Co. This ground-breaking initiative has been dedicated to helping U.S. and other international metropolitan areas equip themselves for a global future, following a 20th century in which the dominant domestic market provided limited incentives to globalise.

Back in 2012, Prof. Greg Clark and Dr Tim Moonen collaborated closely with Brookings fellows Brad McDearman and Joseph Parilla on a major piece of research to identify the ingredients of a metropolis that is capable of participating seamlessly in a wide range of global markets. We reviewed over 40 city-regions between us, uncovering their long history of trade, innovation and good governance. This work resulted in the "The 10 Traits of Globally Fluent Metro Areas”, which summarised the core ingredients that are observable across cities around the world, from Tokyo to Sao Paulo, from Wichita to Nanjing. The report also identified a series of practical pathways through which cities can become more attuned to global markets, shifts, and forces and successfully transition from being 'globally-aware,' to ‘globally-oriented,’ to 'globally-fluent.'.

Subsequently, The Business of Cities and the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program have coordinated to deliver a variety of events, convenings, research, and workshops. We have provided keen perspective, insight, and guidance to Brookings Metro senior staff on key initiatives involving a host of American city participants as they launched their global trade and investment programmes. The Business of Cities has also been integral in providing world-class research and stimulating panel moderation to Brookings events and convenings that have brought together city and business leaders from around the globe.

More recently, in 2018 The Business of Cities teamed up with Brookings on a unique and novel dedicated programme with participants from four U.S. metros (Atlanta, Columbus, Louisville, Philadelphia) as they develop an enhanced global identity strategy and alliance. This fascinating project has involved a myriad of input, including detailed perception analysis of the four cities, group collaborations and workshops in Washington D.C., webinars with experts and identity leaders in other global cities, transatlantic conference calls and ongoing strategic assistance. The outcomes of this exciting collaboration will become more tangible during 2019.