Revamping local and regional development through place-based strategies

The past four decades have seen an international movement toward decentralization. As part of this process, subnational tiers of government (state and local) have been gaining power to design and implement contextually tailored economic development strategies that reflect local socioeconomic and institutional characteristics, conditions, and realities. This article examines the increased role of subnational governments in developing place-based development strategies and provides examples of successful and failed strategies to achieve more efficient, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth. The latter include actions to increase the capacity of local governments; the adoption of coordinated multilevel governance approaches to limit overlap among, and maximize the synergies between, the actions taken by various tiers of government; initiatives to increase the competitiveness of local firms; investments in the local human capital; and expenditure on new infrastructure.