Preserving and reviving the place’s authenticity means a lot to me. I have been advocating for this cause for the past decade as I travel and explore more cities that are losing their original essence and trying to imitate each other’s success formulas. Well, this is the subject for this month’s session on “What Really Should Matter to Cities?”

Before diving deeper into your thoughts on whether cities should replicate successful mantras or establish their own small businesses centered around the experience economy, I want you to pause and answer this question: If you live in a medium or large city, you must have tasted Dubai-style chocolates or New York-style filled croissants. But is New York, Dubai, or any other city around the world truly selling a product that is original and authentic only to your place? Honestly, how much of your city has been transformed over the past decade to keep up with the global race, and what percentage of its authenticity has been preserved?

I am not opposed to cities racing to attract new high-paying industries and businesses, but I want these decisions to be made with more logical, scientific, and long-term focus because the harsh truth is that each city has its own underlying structures, systems, people, and environment that make the city unique. Every new copy-paste replication brings its own unforeseen setbacks as the city tries to “fit them in,” which may not even be successful in the long run. Over the past few years, I have been part of the journey of cities and systems trying to modernize their unique and authentic aspects to become more profitable and sustainable, resulting in greater GDP growth rather than simply attracting new industries and economies. One example of this is Pochampally in Telangana.

At least, what should matter to cities should stem from a collective agreement and understanding among all stakeholders on the impacts of different types of new industries, or the replication of the success formula the city wants to establish. Like, what percentage of authenticity do they want to preserve and promote?

If one agreed to preserve the local essence, here are some of the strategies that one can begin with

1. The Brookings Institution published a full report in 2020 on how to identify and leverage your local essence and authenticity to enhance your global visibility for competitiveness and resilience. It provides a simple seven-step process using examples from different cities around the world. (link)
2. Encourage the growth of social entrepreneurship and locally driven innovation (SESI) as catalysts for Authenticity promotion and development. While Scaffidi et al. (2025), in “The role of the social entrepreneur for sustainable heritage-led urban regeneration,” highlight the promising impact of SESI, there remains a significant opportunity to further refine and clearly define these roles to strengthen how local actors shape and sustain authentic urban transformation.
3. Rethink and redefine the prevailing economic modernization theory to embed authenticity and local identity. Rather than viewing modernization purely as a process of universal growth or “upgrading,” cities can adopt a reflexive-modernization approach that integrates local values, heritage, and social priorities into economic development theory itself.

So, maybe the real question is not how can our city become the next New York or Dubai, but what can New York or Dubai learn from us? When cities stop shrinking themselves into copies and instead expand confidently into their own character, they don’t just preserve authenticity; they export it. That is when unique places become global references rather than global replicas.

What are your thoughts?