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Trapped betweenconcentration and cohesion
Overcoming the dichotomous nature ofstrategic
spatial development within the BSRTomas Hanell
WARSAW REGIONAL FORUM 2011. Functional regions
towards a new paradigm of territorial and
cohesion policyKeynote speech at Second Plenary
Session, Warsaw 21.10 2011
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Speech outline Part APart BPart C
the success storya backside of the
cointentative coping strategies
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Part A the success storyEconomic performance
and integration of the Baltic Sea Region
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Growing BSR exports
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Economic integration-tradeflows in the Baltic
Sea region
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Economic Growth 2005-2011e
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Part B a backside of the coinRegional
stratificationin the Baltic Sea region
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The BSR and the European urban system

• The BSR constitutes a part of the European urban
  system but
• situated largely outside the Pentagon
• The BSR characterised by its three principal
  dichotomies
• North-south
• East-West
• Urban-rural (or core-periphery)

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Dispersion of regional GDP at NUTS level 3
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Regional disparities in the BSR 2000 and 2007
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Concentration of population
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Example depth of international penetration at
the local level
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The Baltic Sea Region summary of recent
regional trends

• Structural change of the economy
• highly territorialised
• Concentration of production
• Concentration of knowledge and RD
• Concentration of investments
• Concentration of employment
• Concentration of population
• Concentration of access
• Low spatial resilience to the current economic
  crisis

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Part C tentative coping strategiesPotential
regional development alternatives for particular
types of regions in the BSR
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Specific types of BSR regions 1(4)

• Metropolitan areas
• Acting as main nodes of transport, centres of
  economic and political decision-making, gateways
  of FDI, main milieux for RD, engines of social
  change, etc.
• Creating bottlenecks, lack of labour, high
  inflation, urban sprawl, etc.
• Key challenges how to gain or remain competitive
  on the European arena? How to maintain or
  increase social equity? How to increase
  contribution of secondary cities?

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Productivity of secondary cities in 2007

Source ESPON SGPTD
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Economic activity rate inUrban Audit cities
2007-09
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Specific types of BSR regions 2(4)

• Medium-sized towns
• Hampered by mono-industrial economic structures,
  vulnerable to external shocks, and slow grinding
  forces of globalisation
• Key challenge diversification of the economy
  and/or a gradual increase of the knowledge
  component in their manufacturing industries.
• Would result in increasing interconnection with
  the global economy, which poses additional risks.

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Specific types of BSR regions 3(4)

• Core rural areas
• Handicapped by lack of opportunities for economic
  development outside primary production sphere,
  low levels of education, substandard
  infrastructure
• Possible trajectories
• relative position will continue to decline
  further or
• some form of urbanisation will occur, either
• in situ urbanisation (e.g. via increased
  accessibility to urban labour markets) or
• endogenous structural change of the local economy
  

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Specific types of BSR regions 4(4)

• Sparsely populated areas
• Hampered by lack of possibilities for
  agglomeration economies, few and scattered
  centres of knowledge hindering networking and
  cooperation, overdependence on the public sector
  (particularly in the Nordic area), rapid
  out-migration, etc.
• Growth strategies or strategic choices?

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Observations in summary

• A precarious balance between competitiveness
  and cohesion.
• Regional polarisation may hinder long-term
  development, imminent risk of backfire.
• One size does not fit all.
• Specific strategies needed for specific regions.
• Current focus on administrative units needs to be
  re-thought ? functional areas.
• And finally,

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what is our utmost goal?
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