Global cities, multinational corporations and knowledge sourcing

Abstract

Starting from the definition of 'global cities', the main goal of the thesis is to explore how they have evolved over the years and especially how their role has changed. Nowadays, the world is experiencing an incredibly fast globalization process and this is naturally altering its composition. As a matter of fact, new actors are now emerging and deeply moulding the growth and the future evolution not only of the economic scenario but also of all the other correlated aspects. In addition, cities have now become the major players in this situation and this is why it is fundamental to study them and see what are their distinctive features, in order to at least try to predict the next steps for the upcoming years. The thesis is also aimed at particularly focusing on the crucial role that R&D activities are now playing, being considered the cornerstones of companies' success. To conclude, the last chapter is entirely dedicated to real-case testimonies to either further support or prove wrong the assumptions carried throughout the paper.