Concept, Directions and Practice of City Attractiveness Improvement

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of attractive city and its role in the context ofinternational competition of cities. The authors draw attention to the changingorientation of cities development efforts from heavy industry to creative, talented andhighly-skilled residents. Three main groups of society - residents, business and/orvisitors – are proposed as possible target groups of a city. General needs of each ofthe group for a location of their activity are distinguished as well. The authorsemphasise the importance of values, identity, especially the socio-cultural heritage ofa city community for a successful strategies to improve the attractiveness of a city. Thearticle also presents main results of the research, which aimed to identify directions ofLithuanian cities to improve their attractiveness.