Extending theory into World Bank practice

San Francisco

PAUL Romer, the new World Bank chief economist, emphasises as critical to successful charter cities the creation of new rules for better societies. Urbanisation, rising inequality and persistent poverty, even in otherwise prospering countries, invite collective thinking and good ideas attuned to the size of the problems. Mr Romer, the director of New York University's Marron Institute of Urban Management and founder of Aplia, an educational technology company, is in an optimal position to supply appropriate answers.

He cites China as a dramatic demonstration of both the potential and the challenges of experimenting with such new sets of rules. Under the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), China was the world's leader in technology, but the country turned inward rather than embrace economic dynamism which new technologies …