Développement régional, urbain et rural

This work leverages globally consistent data on parks from Google Maps, in combination with the computational power of Google Maps Directions API to quantify accessibility to parks across nearly 500 metropolitan areas in six countries: Estonia, France, Greece, Mexico, Sweden, and the United States. We combined high resolution population data from Worldpop with parks data and navigation estimates to measure: (1) Fraction of the population with access to parks within a 10-minute walk; and (2) the median walking time to the closest park. We find large differences in access to parks between countries, as well as large variability across cities and their respective commuting zones. To demonstrate how this framework can support cross country comparisons and efforts to track progress towards SDG11, we assessed access to parks by income group in selected countries, finding that the median walking time to a park is shorter for residents of low income neighbourhoods both in French and American metropolitan areas.

The review examines how higher education institutions are supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in their surrounding communities. The study focuses on eleven universities located in six countries in Latin America: Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The study finds that selected institutions are actively supporting entrepreneurs (university students, but also local entrepreneurs) through courses, incubation and acceleration activities. It also shows that universities are actively engaging with external stakeholders in their surrounding communities, to spur innovation through joint-research, organisation of events (such as festivals, competition). It finds that that while COVID-19 pandemic brought about some challenges, universities managed to stay afloat and keep a steady stream of support to entrepreneurs and partners. The review also illustrates the challenges that universities face when developing these activities (lack of funding, unclear regulation for intellectual property development, etc.) and highlights some opportunities that universities should leverage, particularly in the current context.

Many Latin American countries have experienced improvements in income over recent decades, with several of them now classified as high-income or upper middle-income in terms of conventional metrics. But has this change been mirrored in improvements across the different areas of people’s lives? How’s Life in Latin America? Measuring Well-being for Policy Making addresses this question by presenting comparative evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) with a focus on 11 LAC countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay). Spanning material conditions, quality of life, resources for future well-being, and inequalities, the report presents available evidence on well-being both before and since the onset of the pandemic, based on the OECD Well-being Framework. It also identifies priorities for addressing well-being gaps and describes how well-being frameworks are used in policy within Latin America and elsewhere around the world, providing lessons for governments on what is needed to put people’s well-being at the centre of their action. The report is part of the EU Regional Facility for Development in Transition for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Hidalgo is one of the smallest states in Mexico. It benefits from its close proximity to Mexico City and contains a number of economic and environmental assets in its territory. After a long period of economic stagnation, the state is now closing up the gap with national standards. Yet, productivity and income levels remain low with respect to national levels, and there exist high socio-economic disparities between the south of the state and the municipalities in the northern and mountainous area. This review looks at how the state of Hidalgo is seeking to boost its economy, particularly through a series of institutional reforms and policies to improve the business environment. It highlights opportunities to accelerate the economic convergence and transit towards high-value added economic sectors. The review also identifies a number of recommendations to promote inclusive growth and reduce its north-south divide and offers suggestions to address governance challenges in the territory.

This report assesses the extent to which the state of Morelos, Mexico has implemented the OECD recommendations set in the Territorial Review of Morelos, published in 2017. The recommendations addressed matters of human capital, education, skills, innovation, territorial development, sustainable development, governance and public finances. For each of them, the monitoring toolkit indicates areas of change, identifies bottlenecks and proposes ways forward. The timeframe of implementation is also considered. The report further analyses the impacts of the earthquake of 19 September 2017 and the policy responses adopted in its aftermath. It offers advice on how to lead a reconstruction process that delivers a better state of affairs than the previous one, especially concerning territorial development and infrastructure investments. It advances a new topic, on connectivity and accessibility, in view of recent investments in rail and road infrastructure.

Morelos is one of the smallest states in Mexico, and close to Mexico City. It contains a number of economic and environmental assets in its territory, but has weak productivity levels. This review looks at how Morelos is seeking to boost its economy, particularly through inclusive growth policies such as enhancing human capital and promoting innovation. It also highlights areas of untapped potential for economic growth across rural areas and the tourism and environmental sectors, and offers suggestions for how Morelos could address governance challenges.

The Mexico Tourism Policy Review provides an assessment of tourism-related policies, programmes and plans to support sustainable tourism development in Mexico. Policy recommendations focus on priority areas to help strengthen Mexico's tourism sector and take advantage of opportunities with strong potential for economic growth, investment and development, notably in the following areas: policy-making environment and governance arrangements; transport, mobility and connectivity for visitor travel; inclusive tourism growth, destination development and product and regional diversification; and investment and SME financing.

The report provides a comprehensive picture on the territorial differences in many well-being dimensions across the 31 Mexican states and the Federal District. It represents a sound base for state and local policy makers, political leaders and citizens to better understand people’s living conditions, gauge progress in various aspects of economy and society and use these indicators to improve the design and implementation of policies. It is a part of the 'How’s Life in Your Region?' work produced by the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate at the behest of the Regional Development Policy Committee.

This review finds that while Mexico has taken important steps in addressing the urban challenges in the Valle de México, Mexico’s largest metropolitan area, there is a need for major metropolitan governance reform.  Serious urban governance failings are inhibiting adequate responses to critical urban development priorities - regeneration, access to adequate housing, reliable and safe public transport, and environmental protection. Several measures are currently being implemented. However, these tools and reforms will not produce the desired solutions to urban problems in the absence of metropolitan thinking, strategic regional planning, and improved co-ordination and collaboration across levels of government.