The relationship between sustainable urban development and urban competitiveness

Abstract

The present work aimed to identify the relationship between sustainable urban development and the competitiveness of cities. For this, the 25 most competitive cities in the world were investigated through a quantitative and descriptive survey, based on secondary data. The results indicated that among the cities that were analyzed, there was a homogeneity regarding crime rates, drinking water and sanitation, connectivity, education, health and air pollution. Still, only the Education variable presented significant levels as an influencer of the cities’ competitiveness. Thus, the hypothesis that there was a positive relationship between sustainable urban development and urban competitiveness was not supported. As a limitation the sample size and composition, since only the most competitive cities in the world were selected. As a suggestion for future studies, we propose the use of a more representative sample as well as the use of other indices of sustainability and competitiveness of cities to investigate the relationship between sustainable urban development and urban competitiveness.