The province of Quebec stands out from the rest of Canada for myriad reasons. Its culture and language are obvious examples of this, but its proactive approach to attracting both investment and labour also give the region something to be proud of.

The competitive nature of investment promotion means that border cities still view their neighbours as rivals when it comes to investment promotion. But a handful of European border cities are bucking this trend.

The city of Katowice in southern Poland is reinventing itself, shedding its image as a mining town and diversifying into alternative sectors, according to mayor Piotr Uszok

The US biotechnology landscape has changed radically in the 20 years since the first BIO International Convention. And while investment is still focused on a handful of states, other US destinations are bubbling under.

Once the poster child of the UK's industrial decline, Sheffield's recession-defying growth in recent years has been based around the city and surrounding region using its past as a steelmaking and mining centre to embrace more modern technology, all backed up by training programmes supplying a steady stream of engineering talent.

The Advanced Manufacturing Park, or AMP, located just outside Sheffield has attracted myriad leading names in the metals industry since its opening in the mid-1990s, maintaining the region's reputation as a global leader in this sector.

Derby has a history of innovation dating back to the industrial revolution, a mindset that continues to serve it well into the digital age. Local authorities – keen to make the city somewhere to live as well as work – have spent the past few years improving Derby's leisure offering, all of which is enabling the city to continue to punch above its weight.

The UK's manufacturing decline of recent years seems to have bypassed Derby, which has met the challenge of low-cost competitors in the developing world by focusing upon quality.