Creative Future. Growth Potentialities for Baltic Cities Outline

Transcription

1 Creative Future Growth Potentialities for Baltic Cities Outline

2 PricewaterhouseCoopers / HWWI Zukunftschance Kreativität 9 Summary To ensure a dynamic and vibrant future for the European economy, successful cities are needed as growth engines which, together with their surroundings, can position themselves as attractive places to do business. This is particularly important given the rising mobility of people and companies, the increasing internationalisation of the economy and the speed of transformation to a knowledge-based economy. Many cities have the potential to establish themselves as knowledge hubs. These locations offer strong foundations for economic growth based on knowledge. They comprise not only a diversified service sector and the necessary infrastructure, such as excellent universities and renowned research institutions, but also a high quality of life, cultural diversity and the creative abilities of a highly skilled labour force. Therefore, cities especially are able to promote the structural change of a whole country to a knowledge economy. For a dynamic urban environment and the successful positioning as a centre of the knowledge economy, soft location factors like innovation capability, knowledge and openness are of striking importance. For the further development of the Baltic Sea region, a structural change towards higher-end economic activity is crucial right now. The study, Prospects for Future Creativity The Development Potential of Baltic Cities, is dedicated to analysing the potential for economic growth in the knowledge economy. In accordance with the creative city concept, it focuses on the elementary conditions for the development of the knowledge economy. The analysis deals with nine small and mediumsized urban areas around the Baltic Sea: Aarhus (Denmark), Gdansk (Poland), Kiel (Germany), Riga (Latvia), Rostock (Germany), Tallinn (Estonia), Turku (Finland), Umea (Sweden) und Vilnius (Lithuania). The study indicates the extent to which the soft location conditions necessary for successful urban development are already present in these cities. Selected indicators help carve out the potential for future development in each Baltic city. An evaluation of the applicability of the creative urban development approach to the Baltic Sea region is derived from the results of the quantitative analysis. These results lead to recommendations that can serve as suggestions for developing innovative urban policies. The results of the study make clear that, given the location conditions of innovation capability, knowledge and openness, and consequently the potential for knowledgedriven growth, Baltic cities differ substantially from one another. Their specialisation in knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy shows different progress. Nevertheless, it can be said for all cities that their development is marked by the growing importance of knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy. Although the concept of creative urban development can generally be applied to the smaller and mediumsized urban areas of the Baltic Sea region, the respective development strategies have to be adapted to the specific conditions of each city. The prospects for economic growth for each individual city over the course of this structural change depend on the specific location conditions, the structure of their economy and the structure of their location policies. This is demonstrated by the fact that three groups of cities emerge in terms of their potential for knowledge-based growth. Turku, Umea und Aarhus score good or very good on all location conditions analysed. These three cities have excellent universities that are internationally renowned. Their business development policies are centred around knowledge-intensive sectors, and the population of each city is quick to adopt new technologies. In all the cities, the transfer of knowledge between educational and research facilities on the one side and companies on the other is effective. The attractiveness of these cities not only affects their economic dynamics, but also has a positive impact on their demographics. The example of Umea clearly shows that the systematic strengthening of the location conditions does not require a minimum size or a central geographic location. The three cities of Kiel, Rostock and Tallinn are increasingly establishing themselves as knowledge economies, but they score lower on some location conditions when

3 10 PricewaterhouseCoopers / HWWI Zukunftschance Kreativität compared with Turku, Umea und Aarhus. Kiel and Rostock have a good position and strong potential in the location condition of knowledge, owing to their universities and, in part, their research institutions. Tallinn also belongs to this group because its catching-up process in the past decade showed greater dynamism than the corresponding processes in Vilnius, Riga and Gdansk. Beyond that, Tallinn is the leading technology hub in the Baltic States and the first signs of readiness for the establishment of technology-based clusters are clearly visible. The populations of Kiel, Rostock and Tallinn have stabilised in recent years, but the forecasted decreases in population over the coming decades are cause for concern because a shrinking population reduces the critical mass for knowledge-based developments and the labour force. The analysis of the three location conditions for Riga, Vilnius and Gdansk clearly shows the strengths and weaknesses of each city through comprehensive processes of transformation. The structural change from labour intensive production towards knowledge intensive industries poses great challenges for these cities. In each city, a great knowledge potential exists, but this is not used to its full advantage. The extension and support of an educational system with high standards of quality are the crucial preconditions for supporting the change to a highly knowledge-based economy. The losses of city population, which affect Riga to a high degree but Vilnius less so, have a negative impact on the cities prospects for economic growth. Gdansk, on the other hand, does not suffer from brain drain as much as it once did. Summing up the survey and in view of the economic trends and the future challenges in the Baltic Sea region for all cities in spite of all existing differences regarding their current positioning within the knowledge economy the assessment can be made that smaller and medium sized cities need to further extend the knowledgebased sectors of their economies and thus align their policies for urban development towards that goal. As the analysis shows, an optimal urban development depends on both hard and soft location factors. Shaping these factors requires an examination of their potential that takes more than purely economic factors into consideration. Rather, a holistic approach is necessary, integrating the different relevant policies. In addition to economic and urban development policy, this affects social, integration, family and cultural policies to the same extent. The fundamental preconditions for a holistic approach to urban development are the willingness to network and cooperation between all relevant actors from politics, business and administration. The recommendations closing the study are meant to provide food for thought and serve as a catalyst for further debates about the conditions for creative urban development. A basic necessity is the orientation of the strategic goals in all cities towards their specific strengths and weaknesses. It is important for small and medium sized cities to concentrate on their particular capability and thus distinguish themselves since by nature smaller cities are not in the position to compete successfully in all sectors. Specialisation means finding a niche. A strong image establishes international recognition despite small city size or a peripheral location. For clusters to emerge, the intensive transfer of knowledge is necessary. In the future it will be of great importance that education systems are internationally oriented. Therefore, universities should interact with other locations in teaching and research activities and be proactive in attracting foreign students. Furthermore, it is ethnic diversity that has a positive impact on urban development, when intercultural dialogue is adequately supported. To attract and keep highly skilled labour, family friendly infrastructures and attitudes are fundamental. An open atmosphere, as well as a broad and sophisticated cultural scene, influences the quality of living in a city.

4 PricewaterhouseCoopers / HWWI Creative Future 3 Table of Contents Abbreviations 2 1 Development factors for Baltic cities 4 2 Cities the future of the Baltic region 8 3 Concept for evaluating urban development potentialities 16 4 Brief city portraits 26 5 Baltic cities with different location profiles: Diverse potentialities for creative development Location conditions compared city by city Summary: Potential for creative urban development in the Baltic region Recommendations for action: focus areas 66 Overview 83 Bibliography 84 Online sources 86

5 88 PricewaterhouseCoopers / HWWI Creative Future Creative Future Growth Potentialities for Baltic Cities is a joint study by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG WPG (PwC) Marie-Curie-Straße D Frankfurt and Hamburgisches WeltWirtschaftsInstitut gemeinnützige GmbH (HWWI) (Hamburg Institute of International Economics) Heimhuder Straße 71 D Hamburg Authors Lennart Blech (PwC), Birgit Brandhuber (PwC), Dr Astrid Könönen (PwC), Rainald Köster (PwC),Thomas Lenné (PwC), Nora Reich (HWWI),Oliver Rohde (PwC), Dr Silvia Stiller (HWWI), Jan Wedemeier (HWWI) Editor Christiane Barth, Hamburg Translation: transparent Language Solutions, Berlin Design desayuno Text Design Kommunikation, Frankfurt am Main Photo credits (19), fab-pics, Bildagentur Huber, Schapowalow, Bildstelle (1 each) Printer Druckerei Braun & Sohn GmbH, Maintal We have made every effort to research and process all data contained in this study with care. There has been some recourse to data from third parties. Some data may, in particular because of the passage of time or in consequence of legal changes, prove no longer to be valid. No liability can therefore be accepted for the correctness, completeness or up-to-dateness of any data. January 2009 PricewaterhouseCoopers AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction, microfilming, storage and distribution by electronic media not permitted. With some 8,400 employees and a turnover of around 1.35 billion euros, Pricewaterhouse- Coopers AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft is one of the leading auditing and consultancy companies in Germany. Experts at 28 locations work on behalf of national and international clients of every size. PricewaterhouseCoopers provides services in the fields of auditing, assurance and business advisory services (Assurance), tax services (Tax), transaction services and process and crisis consulting (Advisory). The company s activities are marked by an emphasis on high quality, forward thinking and timely action. The Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) is an independent research body which analyses trends of economic, social and political importance. As an independent institute of interdisciplinary focus, HWWI conducts scientific economic research and political consultancy in the following areas of expertise: Economic Trends, Hamburg and Regional Development, World Economy and Migration Research Group.

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