世界银行-融合：整合中东和北非落后地区和领先地区的五个关键步骤（英文）-2020.2-24页_9mb

Summary of Convergence: Five Critical Steps toward Integrating Lagging and Leading Areas in the Middle East and North Africa

Core Content

This report by the World Bank explores the challenges of spatial inequality and institutional constraints in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It identifies the key reasons behind the failure of many place-based interventions and proposes five critical steps to foster territorial convergence and economic development. The report emphasizes the need for institutional reforms, policy shifts, and improved coordination to address the fragmented urban fabric, unequal access to opportunities, and limited mobility of people and resources.

Main Views

1. Fragmented Cities and Constrained Growth

• Rapid urbanization in the MENA region has not translated into significant economic benefits.
• Urban areas are highly fragmented, with modernist planning and informality playing a major role in this pattern.
• Fragmentation is a legacy of conflict, as seen in the case of Beirut, which has become a polycentric city after years of instability.
• Informal settlements in MENA show similar density and spatial patterns to historic neighborhoods, suggesting a lack of modern urban development.

2. Unequal Spaces and Stuck People

• High spatial inequality and low internal migration hinder economic mobility.
• Education systems in the region are credential-oriented, which limits the development of globally tradable skills.
• Low spatial mobility among university graduates indicates that education does not equitably prepare them for the labor market.
• Migration to leading regions increases consumption potential but often benefits only the top income groups.
• Poorer regions in MENA remain underserved in terms of access to basic services such as electricity and safe water.

3. Walled Urban Economies

• Large cities continue to dominate the economic landscape, but they do not generate significant spillover effects for surrounding areas.
• Spatial concentration of economic activity is not solely due to natural resource exports but is also influenced by institutional and policy factors.
• Public service access is uneven, with significant gaps between the capital and other urban areas.
• Fiscal transfers to local governments in the region are among the lowest globally, limiting their capacity to support development in lagging areas.

4. How States Shape Markets

• Governments in the MENA region intervene in markets to shape economic geography, often creating spatial distortions.
• These interventions vary in magnitude and impact across subregions.
• The report highlights the importance of understanding how government spending and policies affect spatial development.
• Subsidies in countries like Tunisia are heavily skewed toward place-based interventions, with a significant portion allocated to current expenditures rather than capital investments.

5. Centralized Government and Economic Geography

• Citizens in the MENA region expect governments to focus on job creation and socioeconomic well-being rather than public service provision.
• Centralized governance structures reinforce spatial bias, which undermines convergence.
• Decentralization has complex implications for spatial disparity and is not uniformly effective across the region.
• There is a growing preference for citizen-centric approaches, but implementation remains uneven.

Key Information

Five Critical Steps for Enabling Growth

1. Adopt new, evidence-based criteria to guide spatial interventions

   • Use data-driven approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of place-based policies.

2. Devolve greater functional authority and resources to local governments

   • Empower local governments to generate revenue and provide services, reducing reliance on centralized control.

3. Shift from credentialist education to schooling that cultivates globally tradable skills

   • Reform education systems to better prepare students for the labor market and increase mobility.

4. Streamline land transfer procedures and relax zoning regulations in existing cities

   • Lower regulatory barriers to enable the redevelopment of urban areas and promote agglomeration.

5. Expand market access by reducing "thick borders"

   • Improve regional integration to facilitate trade and migration, thereby enhancing economic opportunities in lagging areas.

Supporting Evidence and Findings

• The agglomeration index reveals that the MENA region has the highest urban concentration globally.
• Productivity is significantly higher in capital cities than in peripheral areas, with a 6% gap in the MENA region.
• Migration patterns show that movement from poorer to wealthier regions is limited, especially among women and educated individuals.
• Government spending is heavily skewed toward place-based interventions, with minimal focus on improving mobility and connectivity.
• Fiscal decentralization is low in the MENA region, particularly in the GCC and Mashreq subregions, compared to OECD countries.
• Digital technologies correlate closely with economic wealth, indicating a need for improved technological infrastructure.
• Logistics performance is a major constraint on trade, with many countries showing low rankings in the Logistics Performance Index (LPI).

Conclusion

The report underscores the need for institutional reforms and policy shifts to address spatial inequality and promote convergence in the MENA region. It highlights the role of centralized governance, fragmented urban planning, and limited mobility in perpetuating economic inefficiency and spatial disparity. By adopting evidence-based spatial policies, empowering local governments, reforming education, and enhancing regional integration, the region can move toward more inclusive and sustainable growth.