Today, the location of a business is more important than ever, as it contributes to its consolidation in the market and, in parallel, to the economic development of a city. Over the years, the theories about the optimal location of a business have undergone various changes, both financial and spatial. On the other hand, economic geography, as a discipline that studies the distribution of economic activities as well as the interactions between them, is also an important tool for the analysis of urban/spatial and business processes. This paper finds the optimal locations of economic activities through the combination of theories of economic geography and spatial analysis, for the sake of reducing urban shrinkage and increasing the resilience of businesses and cities. The analysis of this paper proved that the areas that are most exposed to urban shrinkage are the least central areas. Urban shopping centers, despite the large percentage of closed stores, continue due to their centrality to attracting more new businesses. The calculation of the optimal location of the economic activity showed that the optimal location depends on the financial sector itself but also on the economic activities that open or close over time in this region. In this way, an answer is sought regarding the way in which each region and its economic identity can influence a city’s future development and resilience. Thus, through this analysis, cities are able to control and strengthen their economic landscapes, vulnerable as they are in difficult times, and to implement policies in specific urban units, with a view to the prosperity of their economic activities.

The economic activities of each city greatly shape and predict their development as well as make them more competitive both locally and globally. In the last two decades, as part of the international economic crisis, Greece has been at the center of changes that have resulted in the closure of thousands of businesses. This significantly affected Greek cities by changing their economic profile and robustness via the spatial distribution of their economic activities. Economic geography, as a sector that examines the geographical distribution of economic activities, is an important methodological base for analysing business locations and urban spatial processes. This paper aims to analyse, through a combination of economic geography theories and spatial analysis methods, the spatial patterns of economic activities and to identify urban areas that are resilient in difficult times of crisis. Thus cities that have the ability, via the proposed analysis/methodological framework, to control and evaluate their economic profile and prospects, can be transformed into smart cities by adopting ad hoc urban renaissance and resilient policies.