The recent global financial crisis has intensified concerns over how nations - both developed and developing - can revitalize economic growth and ensure opportunity for prosperity to all citizens. Many analysts and policymakers alike are looking to new business creation and the promotion of...

"Some cities seem destined to become major financial capitals, yet never do - Seville, for instance, was the centre of Spain's opulent New World Empire, but failed to become a financial metropolis. Others, like former colonial backwater Hong Kong, defy the odds by growing into major trading...

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Where the Streets Are Paved with Gold -- 2. A Theory of Urban Wealth -- 3. Markets -- 4. Competitive Financial Centres -- 5. Economic Growth, Production, and Consumption -- 6. The Ecology of Urban Economies -- 7....