City Centres as Places for Strategic Cooperation through Active City Management – The Significance of Trade Entities

• Published in: Scientific Annals of Economics and Business Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 125 - 133
• Main Authors: Brańka, Sebastian, Coca-Stefaniak, Andres, Plichta, Jarosław
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: De Gruyter Open 01-03-2016; Editura Universităţii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iaşi / Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi Publishing house
• Subjects: city attractiveness; city manager; destination management; retail development; town centre management; urban tourism
• ISSN: 2501-1960; 2501-3165
• DOI: 10.1515/saeb-2016-0110

This paper posits that the contemporary city should be viewed as a common space that needs the effort of many various stakeholders in order to satisfy the diverse (and changing) needs of its stakeholders. Yet, achieving this effectively requires active management and coordination of a range of activities. This paper discusses three examples of recent activities in Cracow (Poland) that reflect strategic approach. The first of these case studies focuses on identifying the factors encouraging students to remain in Cracow after completing their studies. The second case study corresponds to a shopping centre opened in 2006 and the last case study shows the recent application of the cultural park legal framework to the city centre of Cracow. This study also makes reference to recent research funded by the European Commission’s Life Long Learning programme on the professional competences of city managers across 6 countries.