Tampere City-Region: Towards a Knowledge Economy

Mika Kautonen - Jari Kolehmainen - Markku Sotarauta

Critical

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Tampere city-region: overview

Tampere

Tampere Region

TAMPERE REGION population 445,500 9 % of Finland’s population GRP per capita 3rd highest GRP 19,200 EUR (1999) EU 15 GRP index 100: in

Tampere 94.9 (2000), 88.3 (1995)

TAMPERE CITY-REGION population 300,000 the 2nd largest regional centre City of Tampere, town of Nokia

and municipalities of Ylöjärvi, Kangasala, Lempäälä, Pirkkala and Vesilahti

TAMPERE CITY population 200,000

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Tampere City Region

Kangasala

Tampere

Vesilahti

Lempäälä

Nokia

Ylöjärvi

Pirkkala

105

kilometers

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Municipality centreLake

Municipality borderMain roadRail road

City-region

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Industry to develop in the 19th century: manufacturing of textile and clothing

At the end of the century, 69% of industrial employees in textile industry, 13% in pulp and paper industry and 8% in metal industry

Reparations after World War II contributed to the growth of metal industry

In the 1960s, textile, clothing, leather and shoe industries employed 38%, metal industry 31% and pulp and paper industry 14%

In the early 1980s reorganizations, spin-offs and specialization Collapse of the Soviet trade affected traditional industries

Tampere city-region: from manufacturing to services

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recession from the early 1990s growth of information and telecommunication technology and

KIBS sectors (Nokia Group alone 3.600 in R&D) in 2000, textile, clothing, leather and shoe industries employed

4%, metal products and machine building together 26% (9.800 employees), pulp and paper industry 11%, and electronics 9% of industrial employees (total manufacturing employment 32.000)

in comparison, so-called KIBS sector alone 19.000 employees (software and computer services, technical services, consultancy, R&D services, private training etc.)

Tampere city-region: from manufacturing to services

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Educated population in Tampere city-region of total adult population (>15 years), 64.5% at least secondary level

degree, and 26.5% HEI degree (nat. average of 59.4 and 23.3 %) number of university students about 25.000

R&D intensity R&D investments 14 per cent of national spending 25% real annual change 1995-1999 (nat. average 14%) growth particularly in the business sector share of R&D personnel of the workforce high, 4.6% (nat. average

3.1) Nevertheless, Helsinki Region dominates R&D expenditures with a

share of 45% strongly.

Roots of local competitiveness

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Knowledge Centres” in Tampere

5

6

74

2 13

12

21

17

1820

9

8

19

11

2315

1413

16

2210

1 2

kilometers

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Kangasala

Tampere

Vesilahti

Lempäälä

Nokia

Ylöjärvi

Pirkkala

Science Parks etc.Public Research OrganisationsPolytechnicsUniversities

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The basics of digital media agglomeration in Tampere

roots quite far in history, but the real emergence and rapid growth in the 1990s (5.000 employees in 1996 -> 10.000 in 2000)

the business structure very diverse, but dominated by the business units of large, internationalised ICT companies (especially Nokia Group)

major strengths: strong large companies, educational institutions and science and technology base

major weakness: weak entrepreneurial atmosphere, the paucity of (new) companies aiming at fast growth and internationalisation

digital media has been one of the most important focus areas of local business development and innovation policy -> large eTampere Programme (appr. EUR 130 million) for five years.

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Real growth of GNP,1995-1999, %

> 2010 - 200 - 10 < 0

Change in jobs, 1995-1999, %

15 - 10 - 15 5 - 10

0 - 5 < 0

46.6 -31.6 - 46.516.6 - 31.5

R&D costs, EUR / inhabitantwhole country=100

1.6 - 16.5 - 1.5

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traditionally, Finland has been a closed society with a very homogenous population

access to the EU -> increased in- and outmigration, immigrants yet, “images of Finland and especially its urban regions outside of

the Capital region were not particularly prominent in the foreign experts’ field of choices” (Raunio 2002)

several nation-wide polls consistently shown that as a city to live in, Tampere rated highest of all cities in Finland

based on e.g. increase of jobs, central location and good connections, and the cultural amenities of the city (e.g. theatres, festivals, congresses).

Cosmopolitanism and image

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economic crisis of the early 1990s had serious social consequences for Tampere city-region as the unemployment rate skyrocketed to over 20 per cent

despite economic growth unemployment rate is still over 10% (12,9% in 2001, whole country 12,0)

about 25% of the unemployed long-term unemployed and among them every second unemployed for more than two years

‘skills mismatches’ of the transformation period -> permanent problem?

60 per cent of the long-term unemployed 50 years old or older, risk especially high in manufacturing sectors.

Social polarisation

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during the 1990s, rise of the environmentalism, “environmental awakening”

local environmental movements key actors in process of change by challenging the local political traditions/culture and especially the tradition of local governance, called “brothers-in-arms axis”

City of Tampere with a holistic environmental management system based on ISO 14001

Tampere Forum to stimulate local democracy and to activate citizen participation in sustainable development (est. 1996), a bottom-up approach.

Sustainability

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Governance

in Finland, trend of the 90’s the increasing sub-regional co-operation between municipalities

reasons, e.g.: new Regional Development Act (1994), small size of municipalities

local government gained more importance in regional policy. The new Act splits the responsibility for institutional regional development efforts between state and municipalities

sub-regions form the smallest regional policy unit sub-regional co-operation significant part of local activities, yet

experiences and success vary greatly.

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Strategies focus on…

Health care technology (Finn-Medi ltd) ICT (Tampere Technology Centre ltd) Automation and mechanical engineering

(Tampere Technology Centre ltd) Media communication (MediaTampere ltd) KIBS (Professia ltd) Tourism

City of Tampere is building institutions, infrastructure,and is co-ordinating the development network etc.

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Some conclusions

Concept of a comprehensive business development policy by the City of Tampere from 1998: many integrative aspects already acknowledged, however operationalisation slower.

Human resources Welfare infrastructure

Material infrastructure

Sectors & clustersNew business establishments

Regional innovation system

Communication

Communication

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Some conclusions

several of the proposed challenges are well acknowledged in Tampere city-region, including learning- and innovation-based competitiveness, image of the region, and social inclusion

cultural aspects increasingly seen important also for the local economic development

cosmopolitanism considered very important, yet maybe most challenging among the policy-makers

sustainability-related matters usually conceived as a part of separate policy domain.