Connectivity and City Clusters : Summary and Conclusions

This report presents international experience and lessons learned from integrated transport development in large-scale urban regions and city clusters. It serves as an input to discussions around city cluster development in China and other emerging economies. First, it assesses how regional urbanisation delivers socio-economic benefits via both agglomeration and network externalities. It then examines differences in how these benefits are delivered in single versus clustered city networks. The role of governance structures and how they might best be adapted to ensure positive outcomes is also discussed. Finally, the report addresses the potential for reforming local government financing mechanisms in China in order to guide urban growth in a sustainable manner.