City development strategy: theoretical background, themes, and building blocks

City development strategy (CDS) has transformed numerous cities in developing countries to cope with the unprecedented challenges of the twenty-first century. However, the CDS literature indicates that the needs, culture, and planning background of a city determine its CDS themes and methodologies. Drawing upon various CDS experiences, this paper provides an overview of the theory underpinning CDS, its themes, and building blocks to elucidate a more comprehensive understanding of CDS as it applies to real-world cities that have employed CDS and those who plan to do so in the future to confront their challenges and achieve their goals. This paper conducts a comprehensive systematic review, inclusive of journal articles and international CDS implementation literature as previously reported by international agencies and local governments. From this review, a number of recommendations have emerged for cities wishing to apply CDS. This paper makes a significant contribution to the CDS literature by clarifying the theoretical background, themes, and building blocks that are features of successful CDS implementation.