New Cities and Labor Markets

Alain Bertaud is a senior research scholar at the Marron Institute and is the author of "Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities." He discusses the history of modern new cities and the challenges they are trying to address. Alain argues that new cities should be thought of as labor markets, and their success relies on how well they can attract and retain workers.

On March 11th, the Charter Cities Institute (CCI) and the Marron Institute of Urban Management co-hosted the NYU New Cities Conference in New York City. The event brought together economists, political scientists, architects, and urbanists to discuss the challenges of and solutions to Africa’s rapid urbanization. Africa will see over a billion new residents move into its cities by 2050–the equivalent of 100 megacities –and without innovative solutions, its cities will struggle to translate population growth into economic prosperity.Concerned with growing pressures on already overburdened infrastructure and public services, many policymakers are turning to an ambitious idea: rapid urban expansion and the construction of new master planned cities from scratch. The conference aimed to discuss how new cities, charter cities, and urban expansion will impact Africa’s urban future.