A coherent framework for building successful KCs in the context of the knowledge-based economy

Nowadays, it is commonly accepted in both researchers' and practitioners' communities that many disciplines and practices of the knowledge management (KM) field are also relevant and applicable to the knowledge-based development. This is reflected by the fact that the theme of knowledge cities (KCs) is now a ‘hot’ topic of interest and discussion. However, as it also happened with the early stages of evolution of KM, there is neither a coherent framework nor a unified methodology for the design and implementation of successful KCs. The real success of KCs is under investigation in the research community. In this direction, the authors propose a set of hypotheses for the design, development and operation of successful KCs. Then, based on an empirical evaluation of several case studies that have been successfully put in real practice they discuss the support of each case to these hypotheses. The key findings are expressed as a framework for building successful KCs.