Research Background and Literature Review

As the world ushers into the urban age, cities have played an important role in human life and economic development. As the improvement of transportation means and the development of Internet and other information technologies, the space-time distance between people has been narrowing, and cities have become increasingly interrelated and significantly interactive, which intensifies intercity competition for factors and industries. For a city, cultivating its economic competitiveness is the key for it to stand out in competition and realize sustainable economic growth. Looking into the urban development in the future, according to the New Urban Agenda approved by Habitat III in 2016, by 2050, the world’s urban population is expected to nearly double, and urbanization will be one of the most transformative trends in the twenty-first century. With the sharp increase of urban population, cities have also faced increasingly severe challenges in sustainable development in aspects of housing, infrastructure and public services. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously improve sustainable competitiveness of global cities in new situations.