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Chapter5 http://www.espon.eu/mmp/online/websi...ortiii_web.pdf da pagina 49 in avanti Cities as Drivers for DeDevelopment   SEE Cities are incubators of culture and innovation, repositories of scientific and artistic knowledge, centres of strategic decision-making, and engines of economic growth. Europe’s urban system has global cities, such as London and Paris; large metropolitan areas, such as Madrid and Munich; and numerous small and medium sized towns. Urban Europe is an asset of incalculable value. The European Commission and all Member States are committed to enhancing cities’ economic performance and improving the quality of life in urban areas. Cities are vital to regional, national and European economies. However, cities also face environmental and social problems. Balancing cities’ economic competitiveness with social cohesion and environmental sustainability will, therefore, remain a key challenge for policy-makers at all levels. This chapter looks at cities as drivers of development across the European territory. 5.1 Europe’s urban areas There are different ways of defining cities. They can be administrative units, or defined by some population threshold, or functionally (e.g. by their travel-to-work areas). An approach based on their functions is the best way to understand how cities work as drivers of development. Using such an approach, 1595 functional urban areas (FUA) have been identified within the 29 countries (see map 1 in chapter 2.1). There is a dense urban structure in the central parts of Europe, stretching from the UK via the Netherlands, Belgium, western Germany and northern France, and continuing into Italy, Czech Republic, South Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. 5.2 Europe’s diverse metropolitan growth areas Which of these urban areas have the economic potential to act as a counterbalance to the Pentagon and so make the European territory more polycentric? Such potential is most likely to be found in those FUAs that have a large population, competitiveness (GVA in industry), a strong knowledge base (the number of university students can be a measure for this), good accessibility (measured by their number of airport passengers and volume of freight at a port), access to decision making (their number of headquarters of the top 1500 European firms), and access to public administration (measured by the highest level of public administration located there). Using these criteria, 76 Metropolitan European Growth Areas (MEGAs) have been identified across the ESPON space. They include all 29 capital cities. London and Paris are Europe’s largest and most competitive cities. They act as global nodes. However, only 18 of the 76 MEGAs are located in the Pentagon. Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Vienna, Copenhagen and Stockholm perform strongly. Not all MEGAs score high on all functions. As map 7 shows, only 14 of the MEGAs which perform high on all six selected indicators (the five above plus tourism, measured by the number of beds) are considered to be of European or transnational significance. These are: Madrid, Rome, Vienna, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Athens, Budapest, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Helsinki, Oslo, Dublin and Brussels. Thus there are urban centres beyond the Pentagon which have the potential to act as counterweights. When MEGAs are overlaid on the growth of GDP per capita over the period 1995-2003, the real potential of cities as nodes of polycentric development becomes clear. Even the smaller MEGAs that are not performing at the highest level (such as Cork, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Seville) are located in regions which achieved the highest economic growth rates. Cities differ, but almost always they are very important regionally and / or nationally. For example, even smaller MEGAs in Poland and France are functionally important as providers of higher education, an important platform for building a knowledge economy. Some of the densely populated parts of Europe, such as eastern and central Germany and central England, do not have a MEGA. This may be due to the polycentric nature of these areas, where urban functions are spread over a number of cities and towns which are close to each other. Analysis also shows that there are great potentials for cities to functionally complement each other and boost their competitiveness by engaging in productive territorial cooperation. 5.3 3 Europe as a galaxy of small and medium-sized towns Europe is a continent of small and medium-sized towns (SMESTOs). 72% of Europe’s population live in cities (defined administratively) with populations of less than 100,000. Thus SMESTOs are important for Europe’s competitiveness and cohesion. Each town is unique, but for SMESTOs this can mean that too little attention is paid to their regional context. To achieve their potential they need to address their ‘territorial localisation’. This means understanding their role for and links with the surrounding areas, especially the largest nearby city. Development strategies for SMESTOs in economically strong regions may not work for similar towns in weaker regions, and visa versa. Figure 2 shows three types of relationships: agglomerated (SMESTOS that are on the fringe of a large agglomeration, perhaps acting as dormitories): networked SMESTOs (nodes in a polycentric settlement system) and isolated (SMESTOs in sparsely populated regions, acting as an ‘anchor city’), which are also discussed in chapter 2.2. 5.3.1 Role of small and medium-sized towns in territorial cohesion Despite their vital contribution to competitiveness and cohesion at every level, SMESTOs are often neglected in national policy that targets big cities or rural affairs. The new objective of territorial co-operation has added to the importance of SMESTOs within Cohesion Policy particularly as regards cross-border co-operation. SMESTOs play a prominent role in the development of rural areas (see chapter 6), as well as in contributing to environmental and cultural policies. SMESTOs can offer a high quality of life by combining urban facilities with access to the countryside or the coast and a setting in an attractive landscape. The galaxy of SMESTOs in Europe is therefore a valuable territorial asset. However, to maximise their opportunities SMESTOs need to overcome a number of obstacles. First is the issue of accessibility to transport networks. Travel time to the nearest large city is probably what matters most, rather than overall European accessibility. Second is the loss of service functions. Where car ownership is high, SMESTOs are at risk of losing trade and retail services to larger centres. Conversely, these pressures may be less acute in countries (such as Poland) where there is still comparably low access to cars and a dense network of SMESTOs. One important policy question is whether this situation is sustainable if there is a declining and aging population. Thirdly, restructuring presents many challenges to SMESTOs, for example if the main employer in a small town closes. Traditional manufacturing industries still provide a key part of some of SMESTO’s economic base. Finally, SMESTOs may also be affected by rural restructuring and the emergence of what is called the ‘post-productivist countryside’. __________________ "La paura dei barbari e' cio' che rischia di rendere barbari". Tzvetan Todorov. Last edited by gruber; October 22nd, 2009 at 06:28 PM.

October 22nd, 2009, 06:32 PM	#1643
gruber Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12,401 Likes (Received): 645	__________________ "La paura dei barbari e' cio' che rischia di rendere barbari". Tzvetan Todorov.

October 22nd, 2009, 06:34 PM	#1644
GENIUS LOCI Italian Mod Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Milano Posts: 26,361 Likes (Received): 198	Quote: Originally Posted by gruber Temo che questa mappa sarà fonte di interminabili flame __________________ www.urbanfile.org Poland National Stadium - Kiev Olympic Stadium - The Shard - NYC 2 WTC - The Shanghai Tower - Milan Garibaldi Tower - Milan Expo 2015 E=mc²?

October 22nd, 2009, 06:37 PM	#1645
gruber Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12,401 Likes (Received): 645	__________________ "La paura dei barbari e' cio' che rischia di rendere barbari". Tzvetan Todorov.

October 22nd, 2009, 06:42 PM	#1646
gruber Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12,401 Likes (Received): 645	__________________ "La paura dei barbari e' cio' che rischia di rendere barbari". Tzvetan Todorov.

October 22nd, 2009, 06:46 PM	#1647
gruber Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12,401 Likes (Received): 645	__________________ "La paura dei barbari e' cio' che rischia di rendere barbari". Tzvetan Todorov.

October 22nd, 2009, 06:50 PM	#1648
gruber Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12,401 Likes (Received): 645	__________________ "La paura dei barbari e' cio' che rischia di rendere barbari". Tzvetan Todorov.

October 22nd, 2009, 06:51 PM	#1649
gruber Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12,401 Likes (Received): 645	__________________ "La paura dei barbari e' cio' che rischia di rendere barbari". Tzvetan Todorov.

October 22nd, 2009, 06:52 PM	#1650
gruber Registered User Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 12,401 Likes (Received): 645	__________________ "La paura dei barbari e' cio' che rischia di rendere barbari". Tzvetan Todorov.

October 22nd, 2009, 06:56 PM	#1651
Pavlvs DIABOLIKVS Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 13,266	Alla salute di quelli che in Italia la disparità è eccessiva, de facto esistono due Italie.

October 22nd, 2009, 10:04 PM	#1652
tony64 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Szeged Posts: 2,469 Likes (Received): 0	Quote: Originally Posted by gruber Could somebody translete me, what means this "FUA di rilievo transnazionale / nazionale" by the legends?