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How do we deploy our public assets--our balance sheet--to meet critical social, human, and economic challenges? How do we move beyond the essential--unassailable accountability--to our ultimate goal, expanding our metro economic engines? Detter and Folster take the lessons from their earlier work and apply them at the local level, where creativity and innovation are essential and where both the potential promise and pitfalls of government action are in stark relief.--Anthony Williams, Executive Director, Federal City Council, and former Mayor, Washington, D.C.

How do we deploy our public assets--our balance sheet--to meet critical social, human, and economic challenges? How do we move beyond the essential--unassailable accountability--to our ultimate goal, expanding our metro economic engines? Detter and Folster take the lessons from their earlier work and apply them at the local level, where creativity and innovation are essential and where both the potential promise and pitfalls of government action are in stark relief.--Anthony Williams, Executive Director, Federal City Council, and former Mayor, Washington, D.C. Cities are the locomotives of economic progress. But not all cities are successful. This fascinating and important book has divided them into the treadmill towns that fail and the turbo-cities that succeed. The difference, argue the authors, is that successful cities focus intelligently on developing their long-term assets. They build economic, social, and human wealth.--Martin Wolf, Financial Times The authors offer pragmatic solutions, linking better outcomes to asset management practices and new definitions of social capital that promote evidence-based investments. The strategy: identify your economic, social, and human assets; professionally manage assets; and instead of showcasing current interests or putting out fires, make long-term investments. The Public Wealth of Cities helps local leaders see our real responsibility: not to produce and manage public wealth but to advocate for residents served by it. Of course, money matters, but not as much as our will to collaborate across sectors in order to govern public resources well and improve lives.--Ben McAdams, Salt Lake County (Utah) Mayor This is an important book. As the world's population grows, some cities will be forced to adapt while others will founder. Identifying a city's assets, improving management, and shifting resources from consumption to long-term investment make inherent sense and warrant close attention as a means to improve the quality of city life and standards of living.--Fergus J. McCormick, Chief Economist, DBRS Rating Inc. Across the globe, people are flocking to cities. But some cities are thriving and others aren't. As the process of urbanization continues, it's crucial to understand why some cities succeed and others don't. In this important and practical new book, Detter and Folster teach us how to turn around distressed cities.--Peter Orszag, Vice Chairman of Investment Banking, Lazard, and former Director, Congressional Budget Office Drawing on the successes and failures of cities around the world and applying exemplary analysis, Detter and Folster uncover a treasure trove of hidden urban assets. Transparent, accountable, and professional governance of the economic, social, and human assets of our cities is achievable. A must-read for all mayors, city counsellors and those who elect them.--Willem Buiter, Chief Economist, Citibank

Author Information

Bruce Katz is the cofounder of New Localism Advisors and was the Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution, where he focused on the challenges and opportunities of global urbanization. He was vice president and codirector of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, which he founded in 1996. He coauthored The Metropolitan Revolution (Brookings, 2013). Jeremy Nowak was the cofounder of New Localism Advisors and a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Drexel University's Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation. He created The Reinvestment Fund, one of the largest community investment institutions in the United States, and chaired the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Dag Detter is Managing Director of Detter & Co, specializing in unlocking public wealth. Previously he was the President of Stattum, the Swedish government holding company, and Director of State Enterprises at the Ministry of Industry. Stefan Fölster is Director of the Reform Institute in Sweden and Associate Professor of economics at the Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm. He has been the chief economist at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, and the author of many books on economic growth and social developments. Detter and Fölster are the authors of The Public Wealth of Nations, named by both The Economist and The Financial Times as among the best books of 2015.

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