OECD sets out smarter way for cities to borrow ideas

Cities looking to accelerate AI deployment, digital transformation and new mobility initiatives should spend less time searching for original ideas and more time strengthening how they adopt proven solutions from elsewhere, according to a new OECD toolkit.

The report, A toolkit for adopting ideas from other cities, argues that many municipalities have become adept at spotting innovative projects but struggle to embed them locally. Of the 76 cities surveyed across 43 countries, 79 percent had adopted, or attempted to adopt, an idea from another city, yet fewer than half (42 percent) had fully implemented it.

Rather than seeing this as evidence that cities need more innovation, the OECD says it reflects the absence of structured approaches to policy adoption and the continued reliance on ad hoc processes. The toolkit sets out a three-stage framework focused on creating the conditions for learning from other cities, assessing which ideas to pursue and improving how they are adapted and implemented.

One of the report’s more striking findings is that successful innovation is not necessarily determined by financial resources. Instead, it argues that “successful ‘adopter cities’ are not necessarily those with greater resources, but those that are more deliberate in how they organise learning processes.”

To build that capability, the OECD recommends embedding innovation into day-to-day government rather than relying on individual champions. It encourages municipalities to “empower staff to identify and experiment with ideas from elsewhere”, anchor adoption efforts in political and strategic priorities, engage with city networks and introduce clear responsibilities so idea adoption becomes part of everyday practice.

The report also challenges cities to look beyond award-winning projects and conference presentations when evaluating external ideas. It argues that success stories often lack the information needed to judge whether a project can be replicated elsewhere and recommends authorities “gather the right evidence to unpack success stories” before deciding whether to proceed.

Rather than asking whether a project worked in another city, the toolkit encourages municipalities to assess whether it fits their own institutional, political and socio-economic context. That includes evaluating governance arrangements, organisational capacity and strategic priorities, while testing ideas with intended users before implementation.

The OECD also argues that innovation should be viewed as an ongoing learning process rather than a one-off transfer of ideas. It recommends “testing and piloting solutions before scaling”, before documenting implementation experience and sharing lessons with other cities through international networks.

Ultimately, the report rejects the notion that successful urban innovation can simply be copied. Instead, “adoption today is therefore best understood not as transfer, but as a process of contextualised reinterpretation,” requiring cities to reshape proven ideas to their own local circumstances.

Image: OECD