Most small cities like ours think that we have to compete with big cities by building new houses and shopping centres.

compete 是动词，意思是"竞争、比赛"。这个词来自拉丁语 competere，由 com-（一起）和 petere（寻求、努力）组成，字面意思是"一起努力争取"，引申为"竞争"。在商业或发展语境中，compete 常指不同地区或企业之间为吸引资源或人才而进行的竞争。