Large Cities, intangible Consumption and Knowledge Production

The purpose of this paper is to present the characteristics of the city in the knowledge era. In the knowledge era, we argue that a successful city assumes the role of: A) knowledge hub, because large cities host high tech industries, higher education and research institutions, knowledge intensive business services (KIBS); B) consumer hub, which generates consumption, especially of an intangible nature such as services, culture, entertainment, products which spread culture and knowledge (e.g. fashion and design products). This paper aims to provide a conceptual framework to understand the key-factors - implicit and explicit - useful to the development and success of the city.