From competitiveness of enterprises to competitiveness of cities – a theoretical review

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present international studies concerning competitiveness, focusing on competitiveness of cities.
Design/methodology/approach: First a review of literature is provided referring to multifaceted definitions of competitiveness. Next selected approaches to city competitiveness are presented. Methods applied to measure city competitiveness are described, while examples of studies on city competitiveness both on the international and national scale are given. The article did not impose any restrictions regarding the time or territorial scope of scientific literature.
Findings: Rankings provide cities with a certain potential for promotion and marketing among similar entities. They need to be considered a key tool for the understanding of processes related to urban transformation. Quantitative studies concerning city competitiveness are not only attempts to identify the competitive position, but rather they represent the need for continuous identification and utilization of the competitive potential of cities.
Originality/value: The findings serve as both a theoretical resource for researchers. The research examples indicated can serve as a point of reference for competitiveness indices being developed at national and international level.