The case study on San Sebastian (Spain) is one of the concrete results of the URBACT workstream ‘New urban economies’, after collection of data,a study visit, and interviews with local stakeholders.

This paper revisits how and why new multinational knowledge-based strategies and multi-level governmental policies influence the upgrading process of regions in developing economies. Automotive multinationals traditionally exploited local asset conditions, but it is shown that they have also been contributing …