Countries throughout the world promote and support women’s entrepreneurship because it is recognised as an important strategy to address poverty and promote economic growth.
Women who create, run and grow businesses are fundamental drivers for economic growth, poverty reduction, and development. There is a positive relationship between self-employed women entrepreneurs and the growth of gross domestic product. Women’s consumption patterns tend to be child-focused, and geared towards serving their families and/or communities; women reinvest more than 60 per cent more of their money into the household than men. Women’s entrepreneurship is thus expected to have a “multiplier effect,” resulting in prosperous communities, inclusive societies, and progressive economies. However, women’s potential in business has not been as impactful as it might
be, due, it is thought, to social and cultural limitations. Thus many countries are not
realizing their full entrepreneurial potential owing to the lack of participation by females in
new business activities.
The International Budget Partnership works in collaboration with multiple actors – including civil society, state actors, international institutions, and the private sector – to bring about a world in which empowered citizens participate in open, inclusive budgeting processes to shape policies and practices that promote equity and justice on a sustainable basis.
The purpose of this study was to gather evidence of the economic impact of well-designed and maintained public spaces, not to carry out an extensive economic impact analysis. Drawing from international case studies examined in this report, as well as the case of Emancipation Park, there is a preponderance of evidence demonstrating the economic impact of public spaces. In some cities, public space has been an important driver of tourism, and of small business development, and has enhanced the value of nearby property. In Jamaica the impact on health, direct value, and property value is evident. Further, with only 17 percent of visitors to Emancipation Park living in the New Kingston area, and nearly two-thirds living in other areas of Kingston and St. Andrew, there is a clear need for similar recreational spaces to be created in other areas of Kingston and St. Andrew. Taking into account all the evidence presented, there is a strong case for an increase in public investment in public spaces in urban areas.