Labor Intensive and Capital Intensive Urban Economic Development

The experiences of Third World countries with capital intensive economic development and an export sector that is sometimes parasitic on the local economy and that fails to stimulate the rest of the economy seems relevant to that of many cities. For central cities, the failure of a booming export sector to stimulate employment of the population results from a mismatch between employment opportunities and resident skills. Getting the poverty and near-poverty population that subsists outside the mainstream economy usefully employed is a major task of urban economic development. In the short run, much can be done to link jobs and workers. In the long run, education is the key. The investment in education, however, the largest investment the city makes in its future, is made with inadequate knowledge of the likely development of the city's industrial mix. That knowledge is critical for a successful human resources development strategy.