Citiscope

The rise of the consumption class in developing cities has spawned a new breed of urban strategist. Aparna Piramal Raje reports for India’s Live Mint that Greg Clark, founder of the London-based The Business of Cities, “is not an urban planner, a government official, an economist, a real estate developer or an academic.”

Instead, he is a business planner for cities — an urban practitioner who specializes in helping municipalities grow economically. “The growth of the consumption class in cities means that for many businesses, cities are the emerging markets, not nations,” Clark told Live Mint on the sidelines of a development conference in Mumbai.

Clark explains in the profile that cities are paying closer attention to their roles as economic catalysts. As businesses increasingly gravitate to population centers, they need advice on how to retool for urban environments, Clark says. He explains that urbanization is now a full-blown industry, with both corporations such as Siemens, Arup and GE, and cities that include Singapore and London, specializing in the field.