Attracting investment by introducing the city as a special economic zone: a perspective from Mauritius

Abstract

Increasing urbanisation require proportionate capital injections in infrastructural projects to respond to local challenges. However, local public investments, especially in low-income economies and nations, are scare due to their low budgetary capacity, resulting in a downgrade of quality in primary public infrastructure; hence, impacting on liveability levels of socio-economic dimensions of these cities. This article proposes a policy tool to address this issue by envisaging the city as a Special Economic Zone with appropriately formulated fiscal mechanisms to encourage private sector investment in the public domain in accordance with guidelines and objectives set by government or public institutions.