Measuring Urban Competitiveness: An Application at the Urban Districts Level in the Galicia Cities of Vigo and Coruna (Spain)

Urban competitiveness, the study of which has broadened significantly in recent decades, is the ability of a specific urban territory to attract investment, people, and new activities. As highlighted from the previous studies, it depends on a multitude of closely interrelated factors that characterise urban areas. This work aims to develop a multidimensional methodology to quantitatively evaluate urban competitiveness at the district level and to support decision-making. The paper proposes a composite index structured into several dimensions that are useful for comparing the competitive performance of cities’ districts relative to the city’s social, economic, and physical characteristics, thereby providing a multidimensional ranking. The application phase focuses on the comparative analysis of the districts of the two main Galician cities, Vigo and Coruna, in Spain. The overall competitive performance of the city’s districts is highlighted, and their strengths and shortcomings across different dimensions are considered. The results aim to emphasise the main components of the districts’ competitiveness in two cities and to support decision-makers in improving competitiveness.