Planning cities for the future : the successes and failures of urban economic strategies in Europe Planning cities for the future links the study of urban economic competitiveness with urban planning and is able to ascertain the crucial factors for success in this area of public policy. These factors include effective governance leadership and monitoring of performance. The author also reveals how economic turbulence macro economic stagnation the emergence of competitors such as China and Central Europe and the introduction of the euro for example all have distinct impacts on the economic development of cities. He also suggests that todays economic strengths may create tomorrows social pathologies a fact which city planners must always keep in mind. Peter Kresls book offers examples of cities that got it right and others that did not 1. The urban context and the need for economic strategic planning 2. The literature on urban competitiveness and strategic economic planning 3. The economic and geographic analysis of urban competitiveness 4. The ten cities and their planning at the outset of the 1990s 5. How these planning initiatives fared during 1992 2005 6. The ten cities and their planning for 2005 2015 7. Lessons from the past and a look to the future.