1st Edition

Urban Competitiveness Theory and Practice

By Peter Karl Kresl, Daniele Ietri Copyright 2014
    158 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    158 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    During the past 25 years the burden of managing economic policy for competitiveness has devolved to cities and to urban regions. National governments have increasingly been focused on staving off fiscal collapse. Mayors and local administrations have become very creative and active in looking after the state of their local economy and have developed extensive agencies for inter-city cooperation and action. This book explores this evolving role of cities and urban regions.

    Intelligent and rational policy must be based on an accurate understanding of the situation at hand and of the economic theory that can be utilized in the assessment of the most effective means that can be deployed. This book examines the theoretical contributions of economists and geographers and through the analyses of the performance of various cities will give the reader an understanding of the logic behind rational policy formation. Evaluation of a city’s relative competitiveness is a controversial matter and this book provides a full treatment of the various approaches. Finally, it examines the experiences with competitiveness of several cities in North America and in Europe.

    Urban Competitiveness: Theory and Practice confirms that many cities in trying times do have a mechanism for enhancing their competitiveness and can work to create the sort of economic life the city’s residents want.

    Daniele Ietri is Lecturer in the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Turin, Italy

    Peter Kresl is Charles P. Vaughan Chair in Economics at Bucknell University, USA

    Biography

    Peter Kresl is Charles P. Vaughan Professor of Economics Emeritus, Bucknell University, USA.

    Daniele Ietri is assistant professor of Geography at eCampus University, Italy, and senior consultant at hep-business e persone, Milan, Italy.

    "This book is a worthwhile addition to the urban competitiveness literature given one of the authors’ long-standing contributions. It provides important insights into facets of urban economics for scholars of urban studies."

    Swasti Vardhan Mishra, Visva-Bharati, India, Urban Studies Journal