The aim of this thesis is to describe the presence of theories for economic growth in municipalities’ economic growth strategies, and to compare the municipalities’ of Detroit and Trollhättan. Municipalities formulate goals and policies in order to achieve different outcomes that will impact residents, cities, and the economy. Three different theories for economic growth are operationalized into an analytical framework and applied, in combination with interpretative policy analysis, on the economic growth policies and goals of the municipality of Detroit and the municipality of Trollhättan. The results show that elements all three economic growth theories are present in both municipalities’ approaches to achieve economic growth. It also shows that there are different combinations of economic growth theory elements present in the goals and policies. It is also demonstrated that both municipalities’ emphasize population growth, art and culture, and a high provision of amenities in the approaches’ to achieve economic growth.