Introduction to small cities : how to describe/define them? -- Small cities in a world of mega-cities -- What are the strengths and weaknesses of smaller cities? -- Is size important? -- Public policy and small cities in North America -- Public policies and small cities in the European Union --...

Contents: Introduction -- PART I THE SUSTAINABLE CITY -- 1 Towards sustainable urban competitiveness? The role of organizing capacity and distributed leadership / Leo van den Berg and Luis Carvalho -- 2 The modern city and third places: new sources of sustainable entrepreneurs and...

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...