Walk the streets of Addis Ababa today and you’ll see a city reinventing itself in real time. The city is much more modern than I expected, with clean and redesigned public spaces, wide roads and (somewhat) orderly traffic, and beautiful green riverside walking paths. Construction cranes are everywhere. And the transformation is not only aesthetic. The river development project, for example, was designed to improve water quality and reduce flooding as well as beautify the city. Ethiopians I met during the recent conference of the Association of African Business Schools spoke with pride and optimism about Addis and its future.
The experience in Bucharest, where the GBSN community will convene in October, has been no less remarkable. Residents describe a transformation unfolding over decades rather than years, shaped by post-socialist transition, European integration, entrepreneurship, and the gradual modernization of infrastructure and institutions. Art nouveau mansions stand alongside communist-era apartment blocks and modern office towers. While less state-driven than Addis, Bucharest’s transformation has been equally powerful economically and socially. Today it has emerged as a regional innovation and technology hub.
What do the very different experiences of Addis Ababa and Bucharest begin to reveal about the future of cities? And what does that future have to do with business schools?
The world has more than 12,000 cities, defined as population centers with at least 50,000 inhabitants and a density of at least 1,500 people per square kilometer. “Cities are now home to 45 per cent of the world’s 8.2 billion people, more than double the proportion in 1950,” according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. And “two thirds of the growth of the world’s population between now and 2050 will take place in cities.” By mid-century, the world will contain at least 37 megacities with populations exceeding 10 million.
Cities are incredibly diverse. Besides being national capitals, Addis and Bucharest are nothing alike. The population of Bucharest is about 2.1 million and has been declining slightly. Addis is roughly double that and growing rapidly, and will eventually become a megacity. At the same time, per capita income (adjusted for purchase power parity) in Bucharest is 57,000 Euro, substantially higher than in Addis at about 4,000 Euro.
But cities are not defined simply by size, growth, and income. Even within the same country, cities can vary widely in historical legacy, economic structure, governance capacity, demographic composition, environmental vulnerability, and infrastructure quality. They also differ in levels of inequality, informality, institutional trust, cultural identity, and exposure to political or geopolitical instability. These differences affect both the opportunities cities pursue and the constraints they must navigate.
Cities are also extraordinarily complex systems, especially when we think of them as engines for development. Their leaders are simultaneously trying to increase employment, manage climate and environmental risks, reduce inequality, maintain social cohesion, improve health, and attract investment and talent. These goals are deeply interconnected. Addressing one challenge often complicates another.
In Addis, for example, corridor development and modernization efforts have also raised concerns about forced displacement, rising public debt, and geopolitical alignment (as when China built the African Union Headquarters). The city’s transformation unfolds within a region marked by instability and conflict, making questions of resilience and long-term development even more urgent.
Bucharest’s evolution has been shaped less by state-led vision and more by market liberalization, European integration, and the growth of a dynamic entrepreneurial and technology sector. But its transformation also reveals the limits of fragmented governance and uneven urban development. The city continues to face challenges related to mobility, affordability, aging infrastructure, and institutional coordination. And like Addis, Bucharest exists within a broader geopolitical context that constantly reminds European cities that economic resilience and regional security are closely intertwined.
Taken together, Addis Ababa and Bucharest illustrate that the central challenge facing cities is no longer simply economic growth, but how to create forms of development that are inclusive, sustainable, and resilient. Fordham professor, Michael Pirson, encourages us to aim even higher, for cities that are flourishing, where opportunity is broadly shared, institutions are resilient, trust is strengthened, and innovation contributes to long-term well-being.
Given the stakes, as well as diversity and complexity of cities, the question is not whether business schools should contribute, but how they can do so more effectively.
How can business schools help align economic opportunity, social inclusion, sustainability, and institutional trust? How can they help cities become platforms not only for economic growth, but also for shared prosperity and human flourishing?
I don’t have answers to these questions, but offer three initial observations from our work at the Global Business School Network.
First, this is where having strong, locally grounded business schools matters enormously. Local schools possess advantages that outsiders often cannot replicate, including proximity to local industries and institutions, understanding of context and culture, long-term relationships, and credibility with both public and private sector actors. Over the years, I have consistently been impressed by the engagement (and impact) of business schools in driving local and regional development. (And I think it is especially important when the name of a city appears in the name of a business school).
Our host for GBSN Beyond 2026, Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) has likewise played an important role in helping the city and country to navigate economic transition and integration into European and global markets. Although the academic institutions were built for a different economic system, some like ASE were able to pivot with the transition by initially leveraging strengths in quantitative and technical education.
In Addis, I was fortunate to visit both Addis Ababa University School of Commerce and Kibur College. The former is public, with more than eight decades of history, excels at executive education, and is striving to strengthen doctoral and research capacity. The latter is private, relatively new and deeply committed to practical and vocational preparation alongside academic education. Both institutions are deeply embedded in the city and reflect different but complementary approaches to building human capital and leadership for Ethiopia’s future.
Second, it won’t be enough for business schools to focus on developing talent and organizations, and influencing policy, they will also need to contribute to building stronger, more resilient and innovative local ecosystems. Flourishing cities should not be understood as a fixed outcome, but rather as an evolving capacity, defined by the ability of a city’s public, private, and social institutions to work together in ways that generate shared prosperity over time. Through networks like GBSN, business schools also can strengthen the connections across ecosystems.
Third, contributing to flourishing cities will require continuing innovation in business education itself. Business schools haven’t been built for the complexities cities now face. Future managers, for example, will need to think beyond business and navigate public, private, and non-profit sectors more effectively. This suggests greater emphasis on topics like cross sector collaboration and systems thinking as well as approaches such as experiential learning and community-engaged research. Similarly, business schools need to develop new strengths, as they are increasingly being called upon not only to educate managers, but also to convene conversations, broker partnerships, and help build institutional capacity within their communities.
Of course, these initial observations generate even more questions, especially about the “how.” How can business schools develop leaders who are more capable of operating across sectors? How can business schools build spaces where difficult conversations about growth, equity, resilience, and sustainability can happen productively? How can local schools collaborate more effectively across borders while remaining deeply engaged in their own communities? At GBSN we will continue to develop the connection between business schools and cities as part of our mission “to empower business schools worldwide to work together to strengthen the contributions of management education to the development needs of society.” I look forward to advancing this mission in person in Bucharest at GBSN Beyond in October.