Consultant Competitive regions in Europe Cliff Hague
Feb 07, 2016
Consultant
Competitive regions in EuropeCliff Hague
Overview• European disparities in competitiveness
• Urban drivers
• Small and medium-sized towns
• Policy-relevant findings
European disparities in competitiveness: GDP
Disparities in competitiveness: Long term
unemployment 2003• Pattern largely
reflects national labour markets.
• In half of NUTS 2 regions long term unemployed were 40% of the jobless.
Lisbon indicators
Information society• Index built from
data on readiness, availability and impacts.
• National differences as well as between regions in a country.
• North-South, West-East and urban-rural divides.
Patents• Highest share of
patent applications is in regions with highest Lisbon orientation.
• 24 NUTS 2 regions account for >50%.
• Some rural regions are successful.
Headquarters of major European companies
• London and Paris are the main nodes.• Randstad is not far behind.• Other significant nodes are Madrid,
Stockholm and Helsinki.• Munich is one of the few non-capital
cities with several headquarters.• Prague and Budapest have some.
Urban Drivers• The core and the
north of Europe lead in many aspects related to competitiveness.
• Main urban centres are strong hubs.
• Universities, cultural industries, first for telecomm’ updates.
Small and medium-sized towns
• Some rural areas “over-perform”.
• 72% of Europe’s population lives in settlements of <100,000.
• Can offer a high quality of life.
• Accessibility matters.• Restructuring and post-
productivist countryside.
Policy relevant findings• Strong growth poles
inside & outside core. • Territorial governance
can be a driver of regional competitiveness.
• Culture and natural environment can offer synergies to the jobs and growth agenda.
• Nodes in global networks.
Thanks for listening
Cliff Hague+44 131 447 5265