Philadelphia was recently selected to join an economic development network created by the Global Cities Initiative (GCI), a five-year joint project of the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase. Philadelphia’s application to, and participation in, the Global Cities Initiative is being co-led by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia.

Launched in 2012, the Global Cities Initiative helps business and civic leaders grow their metropolitan economies by strengthening international connections and competitiveness. GCI activities include producing data and research to guide decisions, fostering practice and policy innovations, and facilitating a peer learning network. This network, the Global Cities Initiative’s Exchange, assists metropolitan areas as they develop plans to achieve sustainable growth through increased exports and foreign direct investment.

Philadelphia is one of eight metro areas accepted to the GCI Exchange’s 2015 group, the final cohort of the full 28-metro-area network. The Brookings Institution selected metro areas for the Exchange through a competitive process based on their readiness and commitment to pursue the Exchange’s global competitiveness principles.

In addition to Philadelphia, the other seven members of the new and final cohort include Baltimore, Md.; Fresno, Calif.; Houston, Texas; Kansas City, Mo.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle, Wash.; and St. Louis, Mo.

The 2015 cohort joins participating municipal regions selected during the three previous years—four in 2012, eight in 2013 and eight in 2014. Those previous participating municipal regions include Atlanta; Charleston, S.C.; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; Indianapolis, Ind.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Los Angeles; Louisville-Lexington, Ky.; Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minn.; Milwaukee; Phoenix, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, Calif.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Tampa Bay, Fla.; upstate S.C. representing the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson CSA; and Wichita, Kan.

For more information on the Global Cities Initiative please visit www.brookings.edu/about/projects/global-cities/exchange, www.brookings.edu/projects/global-cities.aspx or www.jpmorganchase.com/globalcities.