Urban Strategic Management, City Marketing, Total Quality Management and local economic development. Methodological approach

Abstract

Cities have an increasingly important role as generators of economic development. They are dynamic and complex realities that compete with each other to attract resources, funds and talent. Thus, cities need to be able to manage successfully the multiple challenges that condition their competitiveness. Therefore, urban management constitutes a field of study of maximum transcendence. This article claims case study as a methodology of great scientific validity, useful to learn and understand how to implement Urban Strategic Management and its implications in urban competitiveness analyzed from an economic perspective. Firstly, the paper highlights the scientific character of case study as a qualitative methodology. Subsequently, we propose a methodological design to follow in case studies in order to guarantee the validity and reliability of the results. The later section details the execution of this methodology in a specific investigation related to urban management. The results show that urban managers seem to prioritize the development of City Marketing and/or Total Quality Management, and that these practices favor, ultimately, the development of Urban Strategic Management and the improvement of urban competitiveness directly and indirectly.