The Technical University of Košice (TUKE) organised a unique summer school Summer Institute: Exploring the X-Factor of a City from 8 to 12 July 2024, aimed at PhD students and young researchers. The event enabled participants to identify and define the X-factor of the city of Košice, as a combination of unique qualities and characteristics that make it attractive and exceptional, across five themes: Smart City, Sustainable City, Prosperous City, Happy City, and Living City. The summer school, initiated by the Ekonomickou fakultou TUKE, at TUKE, welcomed world-renowned experts in urban development to Košice, sparking stimulating discussions and providing valuable insights for the development of Eastern Slovakia's metropolis.

The summer school was an activity of the European University Ulysseus, organised under the auspices of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) and prepared in cooperation with partner universities: University of Seville (USE; Spain), Université Côte d'Azur (UniCA; France) and University of Genova (UniGe; Italy). Collaboration with the city of Košice and its municipal organisations, whose experts were available for consultations and guided tours throughout the city, was also very significant feature of the event.Moreover as such, the activity was a practical outcome of the first joint Ulysseus research group focused on the economy and smart cities.

Esteemed experts such as Carlos Moreno (author of the 15-minute City concept) and Catherine Gall (France), Peter Nijkamp and Karima Kourtit (Netherlands), Neil Reid (USA) a Umut Türk (Turkey). Ulysseus was actively represented by researchers Pedro Palos (USE), Alessio Tei and Claudio Ferrari (UniGe), Paulo Moura (UniCA), and a team from the Faculty of Economics at TUKE (Oto Hudec, Peter Džupka, Miriam Šebová, Lenka Maličká and Tomáš Želinský) brought the highest level of current and specialised knowledge to the event..

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