Planning cities for the future. The successes and failures of urban economic strategies in Europe

Abstract:
Peter Kresl brings unique and invaluable empirical evidence, from the early 1990s through to 2005, to examine the relationship between urban competitiveness and economic-strategic planning for ten internationally networked cities within the EU.

Planning Cities for the Future links the study of urban economic competitiveness with urban planning and is able to ascertain the crucial factors for success in this area of public policy. These factors include effective governance, leadership and monitoring of performance. The author also reveals how economic turbulence – macro-economic stagnation, the emergence of competitors such as China and Central Europe and the introduction of the euro for example – all have distinct impacts on the economic development of cities. He also suggests that today’s economic strengths may create tomorrow’s social pathologies, a fact which city planners must always keep in mind. Peter Kresl’s book offers examples of cities that got it right and others that did not.

Scholars and researchers interested in public sector economics, urban economic development and planning as well as city planners themselves will find much to interest and stimulate them in this book.

Contents:
1. The Urban Context and the Need for Economic–Strategic Planning
2. The Literature on Urban Competitiveness and Strategic–Economic Planning
3. The Economic and Geographic Analysis of Urban Competitiveness
4. The Ten Cities and their Planning at the Outset of the 1990s
5. How these Planning Initiatives Fared During 1992–2005
6. The Ten Cities and their Planning for 2005–2015
7. Lessons from the Past and a Look to the Future