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