How Crowdfunding Optimizes Investment in City Development

April 23, 2018 — Blog

Good news for city development: there are more crowdfunding programs participating in various fields of new investments. In China, we have witnessed the development of a considerable amount of homestay hotels in cities as well as in suburbs thanks to crowdfunding mechanisms.

I believe there will be more and more crowdfunding and crowdsourcing programs in city development since this new type of investment mechanism is becoming more and more accepted. And it comes with many benefits: new crowdfunding investment patterns, for example, promote the speed of business innovation by small- and medium-sized enterprises in the city.

We are in a new urbanization period where business innovation is much need in all fields. We are also in a new investment period where more and more people want to participate in business. We are in an urban era where we witness new consumption and investment patterns.

Therefore, I believe crowdfunding and crowdsourcing will acquire more popularity in the future because these mechanisms can optimize investment in city development and upgrade the investment and consumption structure of residents. This trend will change urbanites’ life in cities.
 

A Homestay Inn that was crowdfunded in the historical borough of Old Mengdong, Nanjing, China

Crowdfunding also has great potential if it is continuously promoted amongst the startup community. It is especially a helpful tool for young entrepreneurs. In China, the national strategy around innovation and startups is absolutely key when it comes to the country’s development – and crowdfunding could have a great role to play.

In China we also see a lot of development demands in the transformation and reconstruction of public facilities, parks, nursing homes, playgrounds, libraries and public spaces. This will require great social investments both from government and social organizations. Crowdfunding could complement these investment needs.

Crowdfunding has become much more recognized in the past decade. I believe it will become a normality in the future for China and the world. This mechanism allows people to participate in more city development programs and better predict a project’s outcome.

There is a trend in cities worldwide where we see governments expressing a need for greater public participation, especially in local projects. With crowdfunding, more and more people can take advantage of this mechanism to invest in public municipal projects. This is a kind of modern citizenship and a way of public participation in the city life. I am optimistic on the growth of crowdfunding tools in China’s cities.

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