Making the most of public investment to address regional inequalities, megatrends and future shocks

Abstract

Making the most of public investment to address regional inequalities, megatrends and future shocksPublic investment is a key policy lever to tackle the big challenges faced by societyclimate change, demographic trends, digitalisation, and economic and other shocks. Investment helps to lay the foundations for future economic prosperity and well-being in our regions and cities. It can also help to reduce inequalities, adapt places to megatrends, enhance resilience and mitigate the impact of shocks on wellbeing. As we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, and already face a new crisis following Russia's large-scale aggression against Ukraine, existing commitments of public investment to support the recovery provide an important opportunity to address current and future challenges. Rising to this occasion calls for effective public investment by all levels of government.

Demographic change in cities

“…Single-parent households, along with larger families, are more vulnerable to poverty. For instance, in OECD countries, a third of single-adult families with at least one child live in poverty, compared to less than 10% of families with more than one adult and at least one child (OECD, 2022 [51]). In all G7 countries, the poverty rates for single-adult households with at least one child are substantially higher than those of households with two or more adults (Figure 14).…”

“…Single-parent families are among the most vulnerable groups in cities, particularly in terms of material wellbeing and housing. Almost all OECD countries provide support to (low-income) single-parent families with a combination of social measures, such as family, housing, and work benefits, social assistance, and tax reductions (OECD, 2022 [51]). Cities could complement national policies by implementing measures that foster the active participation of single parents, with a particular focus on single mothers, in the urban labour market and the economic and social life of cities.…”

Geographic inequalities in accessibility of essential services

“…While training in digital literacy may help, this is likely to be a lengthy and imperfect process, especially for vulnerable groups such as some individuals with disabilities and people in low-income households (European Commission, 2022 [42]; OECD, 2022 [41]). Second, the digital provision of PES can also pose challenges to PES staff, requiring changes in the culture of using digital tools and training (OECD, 2022 [43]), which in several countries is still an ongoing process (European Commission, 2022 [42]). Third, the degree of digitalisation of PES and the quality of PES IT infrastructure is still very heterogeneous across countries (OECD, 2022 [41]).…”

G20-OECD Policy Toolkit to Mobilise Funding and Financing for Inclusive and Quality Infrastructure Investment in Regions and Cities

“…One of the main constraints is that almost all countries encounter is the difficulty of calculating the value of tax bases. Beyond this, in many countries, the lack of an efficient and reliable cadastre and land registry, and procedures to resolve land disputes are an obstacle (OECD, 2022 [52]). In some countries, overcoming these constraints and implementing property taxes can provide an important way to support infrastructure investment (OECD, 2021 [2]).…”