TERCO - European Territorial Cooperation as a Factor of

Growth, Jobs and Quality of Life

Workshop 4: Development of urban regions in Europe: Key drivers and perspectives

13th June 2012, Aalborg

Department of Planning and Regional Developement University of Thessaly, School of Engineering

Key objectives of TERCO

TA2020: “Co-operation is key to fostering smart, inclusive and sustainable growth and territorial cohesion in the EU”

• to estimate the impact that various types of territorial cooperation has on socio-economic development;

• to assess the adequacy of existing territorial cooperation domains and areas;

• to identify key determinants of successful territorial cooperation; and

• to establish good practices of governance for successful territorial cooperation.

Analysed co-operation among twinning cities as one type of territorial co-operation

Created unique pan-European database on twinning city networking from internet sources (Wikipedia - city web sites)

Carried out Network Analyses of intensity and degree of twining city cooperation

Carried out Case Studies to find out: substance behind city-twinning co-

operation importance of twinning co-operation

for development, international flows determinants/drivers of city twinning co-

operation Future desired domains for city-

twinning co-operation

TERCO links with urban development Main TYPES of

Territorial Co-operation analysed in TERCO

Twinning City

Cross-border (incl. Interreg A)

Transnational (incl. Interreg B)

Interregional (incl. Interreg C)

Trans-continental

Other

Source: Adam Płoszaj

Results: network of twinning cities within ESPON area

Territorial Agenda 2020: “The cooperation and networking of cities could contribute to smart development of city regions at varying scales in the long run”

Source: Adam Płoszaj

Results: network of twinning cities beyond ESPON area

Source: Adam Płoszaj

Results: How much substance is in twinning city networking?

Theme

Twinning Cities

Exchanging experience 63,6 90,0 78,0 88,9 79,3 94,3 70,0 83,9

Advising to solve similar problems 27,3 30,0 62,0 55,6 58,6 64,2 60,0 57,3

Sharing tools to tackle a common problem 0,0 30,0 60,0 50,0 55,2 56,6 50,0 51,3

Common actions to solve local problems 9,1 60,0 70,0 66,7 55,2 30,2 40,0 51,3

Implementing a spatial strategy 0,0 10,0 34,0 22,2 34,5 17,0 10,0 23,1

Solving cross-border problems 0,0 20,0 22,0 27,8 48,3 28,3 10,0 26,6

Twinning Cities

Source:Electronic survey

Results: Impact of twin city co-operation on development

Economic growth Job creation Quality of life Quality of natural environment Service provision 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

High importance

Old MS New MS Non EU

International trade FDI Commuting for work Tourism Migration0

10

20

30

40

50

60 High importance

Old MS New MS Non EUSource:Electronic survey

Results: Key determinants of co-operation

PROXIMITY – co-operation with the neighbours

LANGUAGE and CULTURE – similarities

HISTORIAC LINKS – co-operation initiated in the past

Source: Adam Płoszaj

Themes which will gain more interest in twinning city co-operation are: cultural events, tourism, educational exchange, economic co-operation

Themes which are loosing popularity: infrastructure, risk prevention, spatial planning

Future themes of twinning city co-operation

Future domains

Current domains

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Cultural events Tourism Educational exchange Social infrastructure Natural environment Economy

Risk prevention Physical infrastructure Spatial planningSource:Electronic survey

The direct impact of city co-operation on development is rather small however ..

intermediate impact of city co-operation on development is significant through its contribution to: institutional capacity building, professionalization of staff (incl.

language competences), exchange of experience, circulation of innovative ideas and strategies, etc.

Cities located in EU peripheral regions are more willing to co-operate Big cities are leading in twin city co-operation Future co-operation within twining cities will focus on: culture, tourism,

educational exchange and economic co-operation Transcontinental co-operation tackles important issues (emigration,

compatibility of social systems – health, insurance, etc.)

TERCO Experience onurban development driven by co-operation

Thank you for your attention !

http://esponterco.wordpress.com/