Five German cities rank among the top 15 'knowledge hubs' in Europe, according to a new report by Brussels-based consultancy Ecotec, a subsidiary of the UK group Ecorys. The cities are Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. The other cities included in the ranking are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Helsinki, London, Lyon, Milan and Stockholm.
Five German cities rank among the top 15 'knowledge hubs' in Europe, according to a new report by Brussels-based consultancy Ecotec, a subsidiary of the UK group Ecorys. The cities are Cologne, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. The other cities included in the ranking are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Helsinki, London, Lyon, Milan and Stockholm.
The report - entitled 'State of the European Cities' - is due to be presented this summer by the European Commission in Brussels. Drawing on data on demographic trends and GDP growth, the report groups cities with similar characteristics in a bid to provide a better insight into urban developments and provide a basis for city comparisons.
'With so much diversity and dynamics amongst Europe’s cities, it is time to take stock and see which cities are on the right track and worth investing in,' noted the report's author Jan Maarten de Vet. The report distinguishes three broad groups of cities - international hubs, specialised poles and regional poles - each with their own subgroups.
Knowledge hubs belong to the first group and are key players in the global economy, continued De Vet. 'They top the European league and have a large share of financial and business services sectors and trade.' Eight of the knowledge hubs listed above (Barcelona, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Helsinki, London, Lyon, Munich and Stockholm) rank among the top ten real estate markets in Europe.
Most of Europe's economic high performers are located in the north and centre of the European Union, De Vet noted. 'The services sector is by far the most important source of employment in European cities. In Central and Eastern Europe, the service sector is catching up with their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, reflecting the fast and deep structural change and economic transition of the last decade.'
De Vet warned, however, that the rankings are based on relatively old data dating from the beginning of the decade. 'Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get more recent data from the European Commission.' De Vet speculated that the list of knowledge hubs might not include cities such as Amsterdam, Dusseldorf and Cologne if more recent data were available. 'Amsterdam performed very well at the start of the decade due to the strong growth of the IT sector. But since the bursting of the internet bubble, things have changed.'
