Regions and cities are on the front lines in the battle to achieve inclusive growth. They are where policies meet people in their daily lives. This second edition of the OECD Regional Outlook comes at a time when many regions and cities are still trying to bounce back from the financial crisis of 2008. Inequalities between places and among populations remain entrenched. Citizens are calling for a more inclusive form of growth. They want a more comprehensive approach to well-being, with policies that address daily concerns in people’s lives, from ready access to jobs and education to safe and healthy environments and efficient and effective health care for young and old. Citizens also expect and demand that regions and cities be made as resilient as possible in the face of economic and demographic developments and natural disasters.

Budget balance

This issue of the Regional Outlook has a special focus on cities. And for a good reason: in OECD countries, two out of three people live in cities with populations of 50 000 and above. This share reaches 90% for a country such as Korea. And nearly half of OECD residents live in cities of 500 000 or more. At global level, the trend is even stronger: over half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, and the United Nations estimates the global urbanisation rate will reach 60% by 2030 and 70% by 2050.

Inter-regional income disparities have widened in most OECD countries over recent decades; the crisis did little to change this trend. Where disparities have narrowed, this has generally reflected weak performance in wealthier regions, rather than growth in poorer ones. The crisis also accentuated disparities in unemployment across regions.