The European Union, one of the world’s most urbanised areas, counts approximately 170
cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants and 32 cities with more than a million
inhabitants (European Commission, 1995). The majority of the European Union's citizens
live and work in urban areas. Clearly the cities - or more accurately functional urban
regions3 - are the vital cultural, economic and innovative centres of Europe. They
function as the motors of the regional and the national and European economy. At the
same time many of these motors are confronted with serious problems such as high
unemployment rates, social and spatial segregation, insecurity, and increasing pressure on
the environment. Hence, cities are facing numerous challenges that will (re)shape their
future.
The shift to urban competitiveness
In the end, the inhabitants, the businesses, investors and visitors determine whether a city
is attractive or not. These (potential) ‘customers’ of cities put high demands on the quality
of the business and living environment. Businesses consider factors like the quality of the
(potential) labour force, the economic structure, the local knowledge base, the fiscal
climate, telecommunications, (international) accessibility of import and export markets,
availability of financial resources, and local taxes rates highly relevant to their locational
behaviour. In addition, the quality of the living environment has become a necessary
condition for economic development as well. Attributes such as urban services, housing
conditions, the availability of green areas, the social climate, the quality of public space,
urban safety and leisure facilities have also become critical location factors. The weight
that is attributed to these location factors has changed considerably under the influence of
processes of globalisation, economic restructuring, European Integration and
informationalisation. Economic activities have not just a national or international but also
a global scope, with major consequences for cities and regions. It goes without saying that
such developments intensify competition among cities. The European unification,
facilitating access to cities and regions and their services, labour markets, and input and
export markets, has increased the mobility of European citizens and is another
inducement to competition among cities.
The impact of informationalisation
The development of information technology and the combination of information and
telecommunications technology open the way for what some call the informational city
(Castells, 1991). Increasingly, innovative activities rely on information, and they need to
be accessible for, and have access to, information at both ends of their production
process. Increasingly, cities become parts of a network of information exchanges which in
turn makes high demands on the telecommunication facilities and the education and skills
of the work force in cities. Hall (1995) points to the availability of information as the new
logic of location.
Transition in central and eastern Europe
The core city and its smaller suburban municipalities make up one functional urban region because of strong
economic and social ties among them.