It is important to develop better indicators of urban economic, social and environmental performance, so that the relationships between metropolitan performance and national performance becomes more apparent. Cities are not the unit of analysis for most of the indicators used in national policy development. They need to be one such unit, and national statistical organisations need to be convinced of the case for this. Policy makers need to understand that better cities mean better economies. In cities, cross-sectoral policies are often likely to be necessary, requiring coordinated action across government agencies and with the private sector and communities.
National governments tend to separate and simplify in the pursuit of administrative good order.
City governments need to integrate and manage complexity in order to generate good urban development outcomes. Global financial markets and national policies Contents Page 4.