ABSTRACT
This special edition focuses upon the economic contribution and performance of different-
sized cities across Europe. The issues have always been academically significant, but the
current recession makes them even more significant politically. They have sharpened
the debate about policies for national competitiveness. They have also sharpened the
debate about the economic contribution of capital and second-tier cities and whether
countries perform better if they concentrate their investment in their national capitals or
spread investment across a wider set of cities. Does size matter-and how much-for
cities and national economic performance? They pose a single crucial question: “Why
should policy-makers invest beyond the capital cities in an age of austerity?” In the
recent past a major focus of academic research has been on the larger global cites
(Sassen, 2001, 2012; Brenner & Keil, 2006). However, the new economic conditions
mean policy-makers will have to pay more attention in future to the potential and actual
contribution of cities further down the urban hierarchy-the second-tier cities.
