CREATIVE FUTURE. GROWTH POTENTIALS FOR BALTIC CITIES
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In the course of the development towards a knowledge-based society the Baltic Sea Region needs successful cities as growth engines which sustain attractive positions for companies and people and stimulate growth in their surrounding regions. A key factor for succeeding in the structural change towards knowledge-intensive branches is a city’s attractiveness for highly skilled workers. In this context soft location factors like innovativity, knowledge and openness gain strongly in importance. The study "Creative Future: Growth Potentials for Baltic Cities" analyses the potentials of these three location factors in nine cities in the Baltic Sea Region: Århus (Denmark), Gdańsk (Poland), Kiel (Germany), Riga (Latvia), Rostock (Germany), Tallinn (Estonia), Turku (Finland), Umeå (Sweden) and Vilnius (Lithuania). The results show firstly, that the stage of development towards a knowledge society differs substantially between the cities. Secondly, cities in which the location factors innovativity, knowledge and openness are comparably well developed position themselves better in terms of future growth prospects. Nevertheless, all cities have to strengthen their soft location factors – and some as well their hard location factors – in order to remain or become attractive as a knowledge site. Therefore, the results lead to a recommendation of policies that support an innovative urban development.
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Publication:
- Könönen, A., R. Köster, T. Lenné, N. Reich, O. Rohde, S. Stiller, J. Wedemeier (2009). Creative Future. Growth Potentialities for Baltic Cities - Outline, in co-operation with the PricewaterhouseCoopers AG, Frankfurt a.M./Hamburg. (Available by Elzbieta Linke, Public Relations of the HWWI)
- Outline (PDF)
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