Against the background of economical and technological changes caused by the globalization and the integration process, cities in Europe face the challenge of combining competitiveness and sustainable urban development simultaneously. Very evidently, this challenge is likely to have an impact on issues of Urban Quality such as housing, economy, culture, social and environmental conditions.
In this contribution the main focus does not lie on the leading European metropolises but on medium-sized cities and their perspectives for development. In research, focus tends to be on the larger, “global” metropolises, and as a result, less is known about the challenges mediumsized cities face. It appears that these are qualitatively different. They have to cope with competition from the larger metropolises on corresponding issues, but appear less well equipped in terms of critical mass, resources and often also organizing capacity.
In order to make clear the position of medium-sized cities vis-à-vis other medium-sized cities as well as larger cities, we present the preliminary results of a city-ranking and a benchmark of (a sample of) European cities. Particular emphasis will be on the value of city-ranking, benchmarking and international lesson drawing/policy transfer as tools to explore possible future development trajectories of European medium-sized cities. The advantages and disadvantages of city-ranking, benchmarking and international lesson drawing/policy transfer will be explored in detail.