Cape Town's competitiveness and the global knowledge economy: a review of relevant literature

Abstract

This review lays the conceptual foundation for the development of a framework of urban competitiveness in the global knowledge economy and illustrates it with empirical examples from around the world. It engages at different spatial and temporal scales and makes use of several units of analysis. The competitiveness of a city can be told as the story of a small firm. Maybe this firm comes up with a brilliant idea that it manages to turn into a product or service for which there is large or rapidly growing, or ideally both, market demand in the global economy. This success allows the firm to employ more people and to increase its sourcing from local suppliers who, in turn, might also expand their workforce. As a result, more people end up with more money in their pockets that they can save or consume, both of which can have multiplier effects on the local economy.