Abstract

MERCADO CELIS, Alejandro. El top ten de las ciudades, una crítica de la medición de la competitividad municipal y urbana. Prob. Des [online]. 2009, vol.40, n.159, pp.169-190. ISSN 0301-7036.

In Mexico politicians and academics involved in local development have started to make use of indices to rate cities or municipalities. The rating may be composed of several elements measuring a variety of items, such as "productivity", the "business climate", the "capacity to attract investment" or even the level of "recreational attractions" which the city offers to a class of high-level executives. In this article we shall try to present a critical view of these types of indices, their use as an instrument for regional or local development and their employment as an indicator of the direction of efforts by local governments. Based on a critique of these indices and the theoretical debate on contemporary regional development, specific recommendations are derived to enrich the ratings for cities and municipalities and to understand more precisely the productive and strategic capacities of each location.

Keywords : regional development; local development; productivity indices.

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