Urban Competitiveness Index.

What is it about?

his paper seeks to benchmark the competitiveness of European cities as locations for businesses and in terms of their ability to attract investment. Urban competitiveness is a complex, multidimensional issue, so a scale of measurement has been created based on a synthetic index called the Urban Competitiveness Index (UCI), which comprises various sub-indices representing its various dimensions. In the present study we focus on the basic dimension, the efficiency dimension and the innovation dimension. The study covers 159 cities located in 26 European Union countries

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Why is it important?

Although the EU has no direct political authority over territorial and urban development, it does recognise the importance of drawing up urban policies at all levels of government, since economic, social and territorial cohesion has an urban dimension, and its development cannot be isolated from other European policies. That is why the regional and urban dimension was recognised as fundamental when the Europe 2020 strategy for intelligent (developing an economy based on knowledge and innovation), sustainable (promoting a more resource efficient, greener and more competitive economy), and integrated (fostering a high-employment economy delivering economic, social and territorial cohesion) growth in Europe was established. These three priorities are interrelated and will help cities to move from one level of competitiveness to the next. Better training and education help employability, and progress in increasing the employment rate helps to reduce poverty. More capacity for research and development, as well as innovation across all sectors of the economy, combined with increased resource efficiency will improve competitiveness of cities and job creation. Investing in cleaner, low carbon technologies will help the environment, contribute to fighting climate change and create new business and employment opportunities. Leadership, commitment and effective attitudes toward change and practices will be necessary across the EU.