The way in which cities conduct their economic policies seems to be a determinant for their socio-economic outcome. Especially in larger metropolitan areas, city governments are more than ever focused on the promotion of their economic competitiveness. But urban governments cannot do this alone. In their search for a better economic development, they also count on the active participation of non-governmental participants. In his paper 'useful friends in high places', Koenraad Marchand explores the way cities act to steer the local economy and the institutional setting in which this happens.