Against the backdrop of today's climate of economic globalization and the rapid development of information, this timely book explores the complex concept of competitiveness between cities. The expert contributors illustrate that innovation is a prerequisite for increasing urban competitiveness, and highlight the various ways that urban innovation-based competitiveness can be approached.

The Global Urban Competitiveness Report - 2013 is an empirical study and evaluation of the sustainable competitiveness of 500 cities around the world from regional, national and other perspectives. This one-of-a-kind resource draws on a wealth of data sources, all of which are described and assessed, and involve urban economics, geography, urban studies, regional economics and many other fields. Using a sophisticated methodology and a team of 100 researchers from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the book not only ranks these cities but also presents a treasury of information with...

Global Urban Analysis provides a unique insight into the contemporary world economy through a focus on cities. It is based upon a large-scale customised data collection on how leading businesses use cities across the world: as headquarter locations, for finance, for professional and creative services, for media. These data - involving up to 2000 firms and over 500 cities - provide evidence for both how the leading cities, sometimes called global cities, are coming to dominate the world economy, and how hundreds of other cities are faring in this brave new urban world. Thus can the...