the world is not flat | the case for city regions
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The World is Not FlatThe Case for City Regions
A Dublin Chamber of Commerce Policy Report
The Importance of the Dublin City Region............................................ 2
Emerging Trends Relating to City Regions ........................................... 3
1. The Increasing Importance of Cities as drivers of economic growth...................3
2. Increasing Globalisation as Reflected in the Movement of Goods, Services,
Finance, People and Technology .............................................................................4
3. The Move Towards a Knowledge Intensive Global Economy................................ 6
4. The Importance of Innovation for Growth........................................................... 7
5. The Rapid Growth in Emerging Economies ........................................................10
6. Changing Demographics.................................................................................... 11
Developing Dublin as an Open and Internationalised City.................. 13
Implications for the Dublin City Region.............................................. 14
Relative position of the Dublin City Region ...........................................................14
Areas requiring further investigation: Talent, Telecommunications, Transport.....15
Endnotes............................................................................................ 16
Acknowledgements:
Dublin Chamber of Commerce would like to sincerely thank those involved in the preparationof this report, including Jamie Cudden, Dublin City Council; Mary Keeling, IBM; Jacqueline Hall,Dublin Chamber Council Member; Patrick King, Dublin Chamber; and, in particular, the projectchair Ciaran Ennis, Dublin Chamber Council Member. This paper draws heavily on work carriedout by Dublin City Councils Economic Research Unit and IBMs Institute for Business Value, forwhich Dublin Chamber is most grateful to both institutions. This paper has also been heavily
influence by the contributions of the Dublin Chambers Council and by the many members whogave their insight and experience to the project.
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The Importance of the Dublin City Region
As a relatively small and open economy Irelands future economic prosperity is dependent on
its ability to access, and to interact with, global markets. To date, Ireland has been remarkably
successful in this regard. In the recently published Ernst & Young Globalisation 2010 Index
Rankings,1 Ireland moved to second place globally ahead of Singapore, Denmark andSwitzerland. Ireland now takes its place as the second most globalised economy in the world,
moving up one place on last years rankings. The
Globalisation Index measures and tracks the
performance of the worlds 60 largest economies
in relation to separate indicators in 5 broad
categories: openness to trade; capital
movements; exchange of technology and ideas;
movement of labour; and cultural integration.
However, the nature of national advantage has
shifted. As this report demonstrates throughanalysis of a global urban shift, cities have become the lightening rods of investment, thecentres of innovations, the epicentre of employment and the engines of national economies.City regions go beyond a single local administrative boundary, the understanding of them isthe sharing of resources like a core business centre, labour market and transport network.They are ideal units for understanding the strategic needs of the people and businesses of aset area. Significant growth and competition amongst city regions has made their governance
boundaries increasingly outdated,governments around the world are seekingto adept to a new era where nationaleconomies will be highly dependent ontheir city regions.
The Dublin City Region is now part of a highly connected truly global economy where
transactions are being carried across international borders to all corners of the globe.
To thrive, Dublin needs to continue to be open and internationalised. Indeed this need will
intensify in the future, driven by the following trends:
1. The increasing importance of cities as drivers of economic growth;
2. Increasing globalisation as reflected in the movement of goods, services, finance,
people and technology;
3. The move towards a knowledge intensive economy;
4.
The importance of innovation for growth;
5. The rapid growth in emerging economies; and
6. Changing demographics.
In the following sections, these factors are examined in more detail.
"As a capital city, we are competing for skillsand knowledge with other citiesinternationally. Managing our new diversityas an asset for the city, attracting andretaining migrant populations, fostering aculture of openness in social, economic andcultural life will add competitive advantageand be one of the key drivers to achieving a
successful city"- John Tierney, Dublin City Manager
There are 60-plus languages spoken here inGoogle (Dublin). Ireland is good at multi-lingual,multicultural, multi currency business- Nelson Mattos, VP of Engineering, Google Europe.
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"As Irelands only city of international scale,continued investment in Dublin is necessary tomaintain and improve its position as aninternationally competitive location. A competitiveDublin can serve to strengthen the performanceand attractiveness of other Irish cities and providethem with opportunities that may not beaccessible otherwise"- The National Competitiveness Council (2010)
Emerging Trends Relating to City Regions
1. The Increasing Importance of Cities as drivers of economic growth
There is a significant body of evidence on thegrowing importance of cities. In 2008, for the
first time in human history, over half the
world's population lived in cities2. City regions
are responsible for generating more than
80% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP)3
yet they occupy just 2% of the worlds land
surface4.Indeed, it is not just cities generally
where the majority of world GDP is produced, but certain cities specifically account for a
relatively large share. A recent Global Metro Monitor report demonstrated that the world's 150
largest metro economies generated approx 46% of global GDP while accounting for just under
12% of global population5.
In 2007, the top 600 cities in the world accounted for 60% of global GDP yet only hold about a
fifth of the global population6. The economic importance of the top 600 cities globally is
demonstrated in Figure 1. This shows that Chinese cities in the top 600 global cities account
for almost 74% of GDP in China (predicted to rise to 90% in 2025), and European cities
account for 60% of European GDP. The role of cities also varies in significance from region to
region. In Europe, for example there are a number of cities such as Budapest, Copenhagen,
Dublin, Helsinki, Randstad-Holland and Brussels that concentrate nearly half of their national
GDP whilst Oslo, Prague, London, Stockholm, and Paris account for around one third.
Cities are also significant in terms of job creation almost 50% of the jobs in many nations
are found in their largest city7. In addition, most metro regions have a higher GDP per capita
than their national average, a higher labour productivity level, and many of them tend to have
faster growth rates than the national average for their countries8. This finding is supported by
research from the LSE: they found that nearly 4 in 5 of the metro regions had average
incomes that exceed averages for their nations9.
The increasing importance of cities is also reflected in the increasing attention focused on cities
by many national and international organisations. Institutions such as the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations and the World Bank have
all published detailed analysis and research on global cities.10 Cities are also a hot topic
amongst many of the worlds leading professional and consultancy firms. For example, IBMs
Smarter Cities programme11, Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) Cities of Opportunity12,
McKinsey Global Institutes Urban world, Mapping the economic power of cities13, KPMGs,
Global Cities Investment Monitor14, and AT Kearneys Global Cities Index15. There are also
increasing numbers of research institutes focusing on cities including the LSE for Cities
Institute who recently produced the Global Metro Monitor, the Globalisation and World Cities
(GAWC) programme16 and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Global Urban
Competitiveness Project. Many observers talk about the 21st century being the century of the
city.17
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FIGURE 118
Other initiatives such as The Carbon Disclosure Project-The Case for City Disclosure
recognise the increasing economic importance of cities and the pivotal roles that they can play
in tackling climate change19. The Siemens Green City Index in conjunction with the EIU
benchmarks the green credentials of global cities20.
It is clear then that cities play a critically important role in their national economies as well asin the global economy. What is more, this trend is set to continue with cities becoming even
more important going forward. For example, it is expected that by 2030 over 59% of the
worlds population will be based in cities, rising to 69% by 2050. Much of the worlds wealth
will also continue to be concentrated in cities. It is forecast that GDP per capita for the top 600
cities in the world will rise from $23,000 in 2007 to $38,000 in 202521. This means that the
rationale for focusing efforts to generate growth at city level and for Dublin City Region to
develop a City Region Plan not only makes more sense than ever but will put Dublin in a
position to better respond to this increasingly significant global trend of the growing
importance of cities.
2. Increasing Globalisation as Reflected in the Movement of Goods,Services, Finance, People and Technology
Globalisation as a phenomenon is not new it has been occurring in waves over the last
millennium and indeed throughout human history. What is new, though, is the pace and scope
of the current wave, which is unprecedented22. The proportion of goods and services that are
traded grew from 19% in 1990 to 29% in 2008 an increase of over 50%23. Over the same
period, the number of transnational companies (TNCs) has more than doubled from around
35,000 to 82,00024. The value of the average daily turnover in global foreign exchange
markets is estimated at $3.98 trillion, a growth of approximately 20% over the $3.21 trillion
daily volume as of April 200725.
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3. The Move Towards a Knowledge Intensive Global Economy
Knowledge is becoming an increasingly important driver of economic growth and activity - over
the past decade, a global shift toward a knowledge-based economy has accelerated
dramatically. Superior talent embodied in higher education, training, skills, creativity,
aptitude, innovation capacity, and the cultural and social skills of the workforce is rapidly
becoming the key driver of economic growth and activity32
. Figure 3 illustrates how demand forskills within the EU will shift towards the higher end of the spectrum.33
Changes in demand for skills in EU:
Millions of jobs
8.3
-5.6
10.1
3.2
-8.5
3.2
-18.3
11.8
20.1
2000-2007
2007-2013(f)
2013-2020(f)Higher Skilled Medium Skilled
Low Skilled
Changes in demand for skills in EU:
Millions of jobs
8.3
-5.6
10.1
3.2
-8.5
3.2
-18.3
11.8
20.1
2000-2007
2007-2013(f)
2013-2020(f)Higher Skilled Medium Skilled
Low Skilled
FIGURE 334
Cities contain an increasingly large share of these highly skilled, educated, creative and
entrepreneurial individuals that are becoming key drivers of growth. However these people are
highly mobile and willing to move to cities where the economic opportunities lie and this is
very much linked to quality of place (see Figure 4). In fact, research has found that living
conditions have such critical influences on the attractiveness of a location that migration to
locations with more attractive living conditions can occur even if earnings there are lower35. In
terms of magnitude, the number of highly educated international migrants around the world is
expected to more than triple from 29.5 million workers in the 1990s to almost 99 million inthe next decade and 35% of migrants to mature economies have a college/university degree36.
International trends also show significant growth levels in the mobility of international
students. The numbers of international students studying abroad are constantly rising, from
600,000 in 1975 to 2.7m in 2005. This number is predicted to have tripled again by 2025.37
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FIGURE 438
While this is good news for Dublin in the sense that there is a larger pool of skilled and
educated migrants and students to try and attract, it also means that the city will face
intensifying competition from other cities to attract and retain those same migrants. There
is thus a pressing need to recognise the importance of developing home grown talent throughIrelands universities and institutes so that Dublin is well positioned to drive growth in the
future. Government must ensure that Dublin is well positioned to attract talent in areas that it
cannot produce enough home grown talent. In attracting and developing talent, it will be
important to ensure that skills are matched to the current and future needs of the economy. In
spite of the high unemployment that prevails at present, there are areas, such as information
technology, where significant numbers of positions remain unfilled.
Furthermore, attention will also need to be focused on improving educational outcomes across
the board so that those with lower skills will not be disadvantaged in terms of their
employment prospects given these trends. Thus, future skills strategies for the Dublin City
Region must respond to these global trends and include elements that focus on talent creation,attraction and retention.
4. The Importance of Innovation for Growth
Increasing research and development investment from current levels of below 2% to 3% of
GDP could create 3.7 million jobs and increase annual GDP by up to 795 billion by 2025.39
According to the Overall Review of EU Member States and Associated Countries contained in
the Innovation Union Competitiveness report published by the European Commission/Research
and Innovation:
In the last decade, overall R&D investment grew strong in real terms, and
despite the relatively important GDP growth, R&D intensity in Ireland increased
from 1.12% in 2000, to 1.45% in 2008 and up to 1.77% in 2009. However, the
sharp acceleration of R&D intensity over the last two years can be largely
attributed to the sharp drop in GDP in 2008 and 2009, when Ireland was
particularly hit by the international economic and financial crisis. The current
financial difficulties that the country is experiencing can cast some doubts about
the capacity of both the public and private sectors to maintain and increase their
R&D investments in the short term, but R&D investment still remains a high
priority for the country in order to boost its productivity and maintain its economiccompetitiveness and social progress.
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FIGURE 5
Innovation is a key driver of economic growth. New products and services that are developed
help to create new streams of revenue, attract new customers, and provide better goods and
services. Changes to processes can help drive efficiency and productivity improvements in
firms as well as helping to reduce costs and increase profit margins. Cities are crucibles of
innovation. The critical role of cities in speeding up the transfer of knowledge has long beenrecognized in economic and other literature by Jane Jacobs, Richard Florida and Peter Hall40.
Innovation concentrates and succeeds best in cities for a number of reasons; three of these
are proximity, density and variety41. Proximity reduces transaction costs, density intensifies
learning, and variety increases possibilities. This basic urban offer makes markets work
better, helps firms become more productive and is an ideal environment for knowledge based
employment. The EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science has noted that
Cities not only breed innovation but they also need innovation42.
The importance of the role played by Dublin in relation to R&D is illustrated in Figure 643.
FIGURE 6
The most active NUTS regions by EC contribution granted to FP7 research
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The important role played by TCD and UCD can be clearly seen in Figure 7 44.
FIGURE 7
Successful cities attract talented young highly-skilled workers, are centres of
innovation and entrepreneurship and are competitive locations for global and
regional headquarters. The proximity of universities to research and production
facilities means cities are where new products are advantages such as more
diversified economic base with higher specialisation in productive activities, a
strong innovative capacity (more than 81% of OECD patents are filed by applicants
located in urban regions), and a higher level of skills.45
The recent economic downturn has demonstrated the importance for Ireland and for Dublin
of innovating to grow a more diverse economy in order to be more resilient to economic
shocks, such as the one Ireland is currently experiencing. For example, there was an over-
concentration of Irish economic activity in construction during the boom - in 2006, the
construction industry in Ireland represented 24% of national GDP employing 1 in 7 people.
This compares to just 4.9% of GDP in the US for the same year and less than 1 in 17 people in
employment46. The negative impact that the downturn in that industry had on the overall
economy underscores the need for Dublin and Ireland to innovate so they can be more diverse
and resilient.
Realising the future potential of the Dublin City Region is dependent on its ability to innovate.
The City needs to be a place where leading companies want to invest, a place where talented
people spin off innovative businesses and a place that attracts talented people. This is
important in what are considered high-tech and knowledge intensive sectors such as biotech,
pharma, software development, and financial services. But it is also important to realise that
Dublin will not be able to realise the full potential and impact from innovation if the policy
focus is defined in narrow terms just on these sectors. The potential for innovation to drive
economic growth and job creation for the Dublin City Region can also be realised by ensuring
that other sectors that are important for the Dublin economy such as retail, for example -
can fully leverage the possibilities presented by using the latest information technology to
generate greater insight into customer wants and needs, as well as drive efficiency savings and
productivity improvements. But this will only happen if firms are capable of absorbing and
Most active organisations in terms of EC contribution granted to the FP7
research projects
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using this latest technology. So it is important to ensure that the right frameworks and policies
are in place across the spectrum of innovation to foster invention, absorption and use,
particularly in the numerous small and medium sized enterprises in the City Region which
collectively have the potential to have a massive impact on jobs and growth.
Any strategy that Dublin builds or develops with regard to innovation also needs to link in with
the strategy on knowledge and skills, since skilled and talented individuals are critical for theinnovation process. In addition, there is a positive feedback between innovation and
knowledge and skills in the sense that talent becomes an increasingly valued resource when
combined with technological innovation47. Furthermore, Dublins strategy for innovation must
take account of how technology is being increasingly embedded in the global economy. There
is much talk globally of smart growth. Dublin must ensure that it too has a strategy in place
to leverage the advantages of technology in a way that drives innovation and maximises the
value and impact of talent to make Dublin a Smart open and internationalised city.
5. The Rapid Growth in Emerging Economies
The rapid growth of emerging economies has led to a shift in economic power: The economic
and financial crisis is accelerating this longer-term structural transformation in the global
economy. Longer-term forecasts suggest that todays developing and emerging countries are
likely to account for nearly 60% of world GDP by 203048.
It is also estimated that by 2025 a similar pattern of urban economic dominance will exist with
a major shift towards the south and eastern global regions, especially China and India. For
example, 136 new cities will be part of the global top 600 cities and 100 of these 136 will come
from China and 13 from India. The majority of these cities will replace those from the
developed world. The chart below illustrates the top 25 cities by GDP in 2007 and 2025.
In terms of cities of different sizes, there will be growth in the number and size of
middleweight cities, that is, those with population sizes of less than 10 million. These cities
are expected to exhibit above-average population and per capita GDP growth. For example,
the population of the 423 emerging region cities in the top 600 cities will grow by an estimated
430 million by 2025 to 1.5 billion, an increase of 40%. Many of these cities are places that
many people will never have heard of and will be in China. At the same time, average income
(measured in per capita GDP at PPP) in these urban centres will more than double from
$13,000 to $31,000. As a result, these cities will account for nearly 20% of the global
population and about 30 percent of global GDP by 2025.
The growing importance of cities in emerging markets, and in China in particular, is reinforced
by the recent Global Metro Monitor report: The past two decades have seen lower-income
metro areas in the global East and South close the gap with higher income metro in Europe
and the United States, and the worldwide economic upheaval has only accelerated the shift in
growth toward metros in those rising regions of the world49. These trends on the growing
importance of emerging markets and of cities in emerging markets will strongly influence
private sector future investment strategies. They also will demand a radical rethink of national
diplomatic relationships and connections and between cities.
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FIGURE 8
It is also clear from these trends that there will be new market opportunities in cities in
emerging markets. For Dublin to capitalise on these opportunities and take advantage of them
will require a shift in strategic focus to cities and countries in the developing world. In fact,
there is potential for Dublin to have a first mover advantage in European terms in relation to
these opportunities, for example in the area of innovation. Research has shown that while 24%
of innovating firms collaborate within national boundaries, just 11% collaborate with other
firms in the EU, and just 1.2% collaborate for innovation with firms in India or China.50
6. Changing Demographics
The EU is facing a number of key demographic challenges. Firstly, the EU27 population is
projected to increase from 501 million in 2010 and peak at 526 million around 2040, and
thereafter gradually decline to 517 million in 206051. With population increasing relatively
rapidly in Africa and India for example, it is forecast that Europes share of the global
population will decline to 7.6% by 2050. The extent of the change varies widely across the EU,
with an increase in the population of fourteen Member States and a fall in thirteen. The
strongest population growth is projected to be found in Ireland (+46%). This is a phenomenal
increase in population to have to cope with. Dublin as a city must ensure that is has a strategy
in place to cope with the proportion of this increase that will affect the city given the impact
this will have on the demand for housing, transport, water and other key services demanded
by citizens and businesses.
Other EU countries such as, Luxembourg (+45%), Cyprus (+41%), the United Kingdom
(+27%), Belgium (+24%) and Sweden (+23%) are also forecast to experience significant
changes. At the same time, a number of countries will experience sharp falls in their
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population with the sharpest declines in Bulgaria (-27%), Latvia (-26%), Lithuania (-20%),
Romania and Germany (both -19%).
Aside from these aggregate changes, there is a global trend in relation to ageing populations.
The proportion of older persons will double in the world by 2050 and the number of working-
age people per older person is expected to drop globally by more than 50% over the next four
decades
52
. Between 2009 and 2050, the median age of the worlds population is projected toincrease by about 10 years with the median age in the more developed regions 13 years
higher than in the less developed regions and 20 years higher than in the least developed
countries.
Europe also faces an issue with ageing populations. The EU27 population is projected to
continue to grow older, with the share of the population aged 65 years and over rising from
17% in 2010 to 30% in 2060. In addition, those aged 80 will increase as a share of the overall
population from 5% to 12% over the same period. Currently, there are little more than four
persons of working age per older person in Europe and by 2050 their number will have
decreased to little more than two53.
Irelands population will also age. The number of people over 65 will rise from about 522,000
now to over 1.4 million in 2050 a colossal increase of 168% meaning that the proportion of
the population aged over 65 will rise from just 11% now to nearly 24% in 205054. The
proportion of the population of working age to those who are dependent (i.e. less than 15 and
older than 65) will rise from 49% now to 73% in 205055.
When the ageing trend is considered in tandem with the trend relating to the growing
importance of skills and knowledge in driving growth, it is clear that Dublin will face a
significant challenge in generating growth in the future if the proportion of the population of
working age is not equipped with the skills necessary to drive growth. This means that even
with a shrinking workforce, the trend can be ameliorated if measures are taken now to ensure
that the workforce contains individuals with the higher education and skills increasingly
important for driving growth. By the same token, failing to take action now will mean that this
already adverse trend will impact even more negatively on Dublins future growth prospects
and potential.
The end result of this demographic trend is also that heavier demands in terms of taxes and
charges - will be placed on the working age population to support older populations. In
addition, to stave off the negative impact of the rising dependency ratio, the competition for
skills will intensify across countries and cities in particular. Dublin and Ireland need to ensure
that they are well positioned to attract the right type of talent and skills. Of course, ensuring
that talent creation here is adequate will also reduce the reliance on having to attract that
talent from abroad and so insulate Ireland to some extent from this global trend.
The impact of the demographic changes will affect society as a whole - ageing populations and
shrinking workforces will have serious implications on labour markets, pensions and provisions
for healthcare, housing, or social services.
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Developing Dublin as an Open andInternationalised City
The international evidence clearly demonstrates the importance of cities in the global economy.
In the global context, it is cities such as Dublin that will continue to drive their national
economies. Dublin is Irelands only truly competitive city and is the gateway between Irelandand the world. In a 2006 study of the 78 largest metro region economies in the OECD, Dublin
ranked 77 ahead of Auckland56.
A vibrant and economically prosperous Dublin City Region benefits all regions of the State,
sourcing goods, services, ideas and innovation and providing employment locally and
nationally to those who might otherwise have to emigrate. In a globally competitive world
market where city regions are in direct competition for people and finance the Dublin City
Region will play a key role in securing the future prosperity of Irish society and those who live
in and trade with it.
Dublin as an open city will drive future economic potential and is an emerging vision for the
region: this commands the commitment of a wide range of actors in the city to reach its full
potential. However, Dublin will fail to reach this potential unless action is taken now to
effectively respond to these trends. Government must act now to realise this potential.
An open city and internationalised city is one that:
1. Can attract and retain international investment and talent and has well developed
international trade links;
2. Has strong external relationships across the world;
3. Encourages innovation;
4. Is a centre of knowledge with world class universities that develop talent;5. Opens up its research to international markets through the attraction of international
students and collaboration in research;
6. Has a strong focus on openness to the world, ideas, people and diversity;
7. Is attractive in terms of quality of life, is welcoming to all and is a vibrant place in which
to live;
8. Hosts major international events; and
9. Is a globally recognised high quality tourism destination.
The four Dublin local authorities and other key actors including State Agencies, Universities,
and others have been developing policies and practices aimed at promoting openness in order
that the city makes and takes the opportunities that these global trends create.
While an open city embraces the concepts of the creative class thesis57, there is a recognition
that successful cities firstly compete on the basis of hard factors such as the public transport
network, communications infrastructure and fiscal incentives and policies. Increasingly soft
factors such as openness to diversity, quality of life are becoming key factors for location
decisions of investment and people.
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Implications for the Dublin City Region
The following section examines the factors which, if addressed in the immediate future, would
enhance the ability of Dublin to attract and retain investment, thereby helping generate growth
and employment which can contribute the overall economic performance of Ireland.
Relative position of the Dublin City Region
While Dublin City Region competes with city regions on a global basis, it is in practical terms, a
part of Europe and a member of the European Union. In looking at the relative position of the
region, it therefore makes sense to consider its position relative to other city regions in Europe
in the first instance.
In a recent survey58, 500 senior executives from leading companies were asked for their views
on 36 European cities. In 2010, Dublin was ranked 20, a decline from 18 in 2009. However,
the overall ranking tells us very little other than overall performance from one year to thenext.
In the survey, the executives were asked for their views on 12 different topics. The topics and
their relative importance are set out in the table below:
FIGURE 9
Access to clients and availability of remain at first and second position in terms of importance
year on year. Quality of telecommunications and transport links with other cities remain at
positions three and four. This may suggest that companies require access to clients and talent
both physically and digitally.
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In order to gain a deeper insight into the performance of Dublin, its performance across each
of the topics was compared to that of four other European cities. The cities chosen were
Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Vienna and Geneva. These cities were chosen on the basis that they
each share some characteristics with Dublin and data relating to them was available across a
fairly broad range of topic. It was felt that comparing Dublin to major cities such as Paris or
London would not be realistic.
The table below illustrates the relative position of Dublin. Green denotes topics where Dublin
ranks in number 1st or 2nd position, amber denotes 3rd position, and red indicates where Dublin
ranks 4th or 5th.
Priority Factor (all Companies*) 2010 2009 Copenhagen
Dublin
Frankfurt
Geneva
Vienna
% % Rank Rank Rank Rank Rank
1 Easy access to markets, customers or clients 61 60 25 31 3 20 22
2 Availability of qualified staff 58 57 22 23 3 18 30
3 Quality of telecommunications 55 54 19 21 3 13 24
4 Transport links with other cities and internationally 51 51 13 29 3 16 22
5 Cost of Staff 33 35 34 16 26 36 31
6 Value for money office space 36 34 34 22 18 31 6
7 Climate that governments create for business 27 26 29 1 18 9 26
8 Availability of office space 31 25 32 15 9 34 31
8 Languages spoken 27 24 10 26 7 8 16
10 Ease of travelling within the city 26 23 24 24 11 13 16
11 Quality of life for employees 20 21 7 19 26 9 11
12 Freedom from pollution 19 17 4 9 21 5 10
2010
FIGURE 10
Areas requiring further investigation: Talent, Telecommunications,Transport
From this table it can be seen that Dublin appears to rank 4 th or 5th in the top four factors cited
by the survey respondents as being of most importance.
On the basis of this survey, it is recommended that further analysis is carried out into the
areas of talent, telecommunications and transport in and out of Dublin. The extent to which
the perception of the survey respondent is firmly grounded needs to be assessed. If it is found
not to be well grounded Dublin may have an issue in relation to how it is communicating
internationally.
Where the perception is well grounded, then policy initiatives which improve the performance
of Dublin City Region should help improve the performance of the region in European rankings.
This in turn will enhance Dublins ability to attract investment and generate employment.
Separate work streams have been established within Dublin Chamber of Commerce to examine
these areas in more detail.
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Endnotes
1 Ernst & Young, Winning in a Polycentric World, Globalization and the changing world ofbusiness (2011) - http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Issues/Business-environment/Winning-in-a-polycentric-world--globalization-and-the-changing-world-of-business---Winning-in-a-world-with-many-centers
2 United Nations, Urbanization: A Majority in Cities (2007) -
http://www.unfpa.org/pds/urbanization.htm 3 McKinsey Global Institute, Urban world: Mapping the economic power of Cities (2011)
-http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/urban_world/pdfs/MGI_urban_world_full_report.pdf
4 United Nations, Press Conference on 2009 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects(2010) - http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2010/100325_DESA.doc.htm
5 LSE Cities & Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings, Global Metro Monitor the pathto economic recovery (2010) -http://globalmetrosummit.net/media/GlobalMetroMonitor.pdf
6 McKinsey Global Institute, Urban world: Mapping the economic power of Cities (2011)-
http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/urban_world/pdfs/MGI_urban_world_full_report.pdf
7 OECD, Competitive Cities in the Global Economy (2007)8 Ibid.9 LSE Cities & Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings, Global Metro Monitor the path
to economic recovery (2010) -http://globalmetrosummit.net/media/GlobalMetroMonitor.pdf
10 OECD, Competitive cities in the global economy (2007) - Global City IndicatorsProgram (GCIP) was initiated by the World Bank http://www.cityindicators.org/#. WorldBank, City Indicators From Now to Najing (2007)
11 IBMs Smarter Cities programme (http://www-05.ibm.com/ie/smarterplanet/technologycentre/index.html )
12
Pricewaterhouse Coopers Cities of Opportunity - http://www.pwc.com/us/en/cities-of-opportunity13 McKinsey Global Institutes Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities -
http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/urban_world/index.asp 14 KPMGs Global Cities Investment Monitor - http://www.greater-paris-investment-
agency.com/pdf/GPIA-KPMG-22-juin-2010-version-definitive.pdf15 AT Kearneys Global Cities Index - http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/16 Globalization and World Cities Research Network _http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/17 See also, Rockefeller Foundation, The global city indicators programme in Century of
the City: No Time to Lose (2008)18 McKinsey, The Importance of Cities (2011)19 Accenture, CDP for Cities making the case (2010)20 Siemens, Green City Index (2011) _
http://www.siemens.com/entry/cc/en/greencityindex.htm 21 Based on a purchasing power parity from 200022 Dirks, S., Keeling, M and Lyons, R., Economic Development in a Rubiks Cube World,
IBM Institute for Business Value. (2007)23 World Bank, World Development Indicators (2010)24 UNCTAD, World Investment Report (2006) and (2010)25 Bank for International Settlements, Triennial Central Bank Survey of Foreign Exchange
and Derivatives Market Activity in 2010 - Final results (2010)26 Dirks, S., Keeling, M and Lyons, R., Economic Development in a Rubiks Cube World,
IBM Institute for Business Value (2007)27 http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (2011)28 IBM Institute for Business Value analysis of data from
http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (2011)29 Ernst and Young, Globalisation Survey (2011)30 World Trade Organisation (2010)
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31 Irish Exporters Association (2011)32 Dirks. S., Keeling, M and Gurdgiev, C., Smarter Cities for Smarter Growth, IBM
Institute for Business Value (2010)33 Ibid.34 European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (2009) and (2010); IBM
Global Center for Economic Development analysis35 Massey, D., Arango, J., Hugo, G., Kouaci, A., Pellegrino, A. and Taylor, J.E., Theories
of International Migration: A Review and Appraisal in Population and DevelopmentReview(1993)
36 Ibid.37 Kim, Young-Chul (2009): The Asia-Pacific education market and modes of supply. In:
The Asia-Pacific education market, eds. William Tierney and Christopher Findlay, quotedin Hawthorne 2008.
38 Dirks. S., Keeling, M and Gurdgiev, C., Smarter Cities for Smarter Growth, IBMInstitute for Business Value. (2010)
39 Reilly, Patricia, Address to the Board of GS1 in Europe (part of the global supply chainstandards body) (2010) (see http://www.gs1ie.org/sid/1441). Ms Reilly is a member ofcabinet of the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Mire
Geoghegan-Quinn.40 Hall, Peter, Cities in Civilization, (1998) - gives an account of the urban sources ofcultural creativity and technological innovation throughout history, from Athens toFlorence, to London, to New York, to Paris, to Los Angeles, to Silicon Valley, andbeyond.
41 Athey, G., Glossop, C., Harrison, B., Nathan, M. and Webber, C., Innovation and theCity: How innovation has developed in five city-regions, National Endowment forScience, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), (2007) -http://www.centreforcities.org/assets/files/innovation_and_the_city_report_NESTA.pdf
42 Geoghegan Quinn, Mire (EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science),speech at Croke Park Conference Park Conference Centre, Dublin City entitled CitiesInnovating for Future Growth (April 23rd 2010)
43
European Commission/Research and Innovation, Innovation Union CompetitivenessReport 2011, Overall review of Member States and Associated Countries, CountryProfile Ireland(2011)
44 Ibid45 OECD, Territorial Reviews: Competitive Cities in the Global Economy (2006)46 Bureau of Labor Statistics (2011)47 OECD, International Mobility of the Highly Skilled (Policy Brief. July 2002) -
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/9/20/1950028.pdf48 OECD, Perspectives on Global Development: Shifting Wealth (2010)
http://www.oecd.org/document/12/0,3746,en_2649_33959_45467980_1_1_1_1,00.html
49 LSE Cities & Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings, Global Metro Monitor the pathto economic recovery (2010) -http://globalmetrosummit.net/media/GlobalMetroMonitor.pdf
50 Eurostat, Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe (2010)51 Eurostat,2010 yearbook(2010)52 United Nations, World Population Ageing (2009)
http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WPA2009/WPA2009-report.pdf53 Eurostat, (2011) - http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/ 54 United Nations, World Population Prospects (2009)55 Ibid.56 OECD, Territorial Reviews Competitive Cities in the Global Economy (2006)57 Florida, Richard, The Rise of the Creative Class (2004) and Florida, Richard, The Flight
of the Creative Class (2006).58 Cushman & Wakefield, European Cities Monitor, (2009) and (2010)
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