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Estonian Human Development Report

Estonian Human Development Report - Eesti Koostöö Kogu

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type, where the leading role was played by high-tech services<br />

(Crossworks, 2008: 9–21). The authors of the survey<br />

named these metropolitan areas high-tech manufacturing<br />

regions and leading knowledge regions respectively.<br />

A very high number of patents is typical of high-tech<br />

manufacturing regions. A generally high level education<br />

of the workforce is typical of both high-tech manufacturing<br />

regions and leading knowledge regions, whereas, the<br />

latter has an especially large percentage of workers with<br />

university education. Successful high-tech manufacturing<br />

regions also require the existence of quite a large well-educated<br />

“blue-collar” workforce with vocational education.<br />

The high intensity of lifelong learning is necessary for the<br />

success of both types of regions.<br />

The statistical analysis shows that there are slightly<br />

more knowledge regions than high-tech manufacturing<br />

regions among Europe’s successful regions. What is more<br />

important, the knowledge regions have recently prospered<br />

better than the high-tech manufacturing cities, and their<br />

economic growth has been faster.<br />

For the Tallinn and Tartu regions, the news about the<br />

prospects for the knowledge region/city model is probably<br />

positive since this enables the better implementation<br />

of their greatest advantage, the high percentage of<br />

people with higher education and it somewhat reduces<br />

Estonia’s greatest disadvantage, the small number of patents<br />

compared to other developmental factors. One can<br />

also presume that movement in the direction of a hightech<br />

manufacturing region/city model, which would definitely<br />

assume a strong emphasis on vocational learning<br />

and higher education engineering studies would be more<br />

difficult to combine with the value orientations predominant<br />

among young people in Estonia than the movement<br />

towards a knowledge region model. However, it must also<br />

be considered that the goal to become a leading knowledge<br />

region even in the distant future assumes a significant<br />

increase in the number of people working in mid- and<br />

high-tech sectors (industrial and service combined) from<br />

the current level of 10% to at least 15% (and even higher in<br />

the future). It also assumes the existence of internationally<br />

competitive universities that cooperate with the economic<br />

environment as well as significantly more intensive activity<br />

in the field of lifelong learning.<br />

The surveys of the European cities prove that successful<br />

economic development at the middle and higher<br />

developmental levels is not possible without a diverse and<br />

attractive cultural environment that stimulates general<br />

creative growth. Since an international search for talent is<br />

typical at higher developmental levels – for top information<br />

technologists, designers or investment bankers – the<br />

attractiveness and creativity of the urban environment is<br />

one of the key factors for the quality of life that will attract<br />

an international level of top people (and their families).<br />

In the course of the Crossworks survey, interviews were<br />

conducted in five cities where the knowledge city model<br />

is considered to be an important developmental prospect<br />

(Leuven, Endhoven, Aachen, Tallinn and Helsinki). It was<br />

found that in all the cities issues related to the attractiveness<br />

of the cultural life, creative economy and urban environment<br />

arose in connection with the development of<br />

high-tech-based manufacturing and service. Moreover,<br />

these aspects were very critical in cities with less than 200<br />

thousand residents, in which case attracting talented people<br />

was hindered by the fear that while the city may be<br />

convenient and secure, the cultural life may not be sufficiently<br />

diverse or interesting enough to set down roots for<br />

a longer period.<br />

Traits of a creative knowledge city<br />

In the EU 6 th Framework project entitled “Accommodating<br />

Creative Knowledge Competitiveness of European Metropolitan<br />

Regions within the Enlarged Union – ACRE” the<br />

future development opportunities for 13 cities to become<br />

creative knowledge cities was examined. Based on this<br />

analysis, in which factors related to culture and creativity<br />

were a focal point, it was found that the following types<br />

of cities have the best prerequisites for becoming knowledge<br />

cities:<br />

1. Cities that are known as national or international<br />

political and economic decision-making centres have<br />

better preconditions for innovative restructuring (into<br />

a creative and/or knowledge city) than do cities where<br />

significant decision-making does not take place.<br />

2. Tolerant and multicultural cities where everyone<br />

is welcome have greater potential to attract people<br />

with various lifestyles and cultural backgrounds and<br />

thereby to increase innovativeness than closed cities.<br />

3. Cities where small businesses and high-tech manufacturing<br />

dominate and which have been service-based<br />

early on and never had large manufacturing have better<br />

preconditions for transitioning to a creative knowledge-based<br />

economy.<br />

4. Internationally renowned historical-cultural cities are<br />

attractive to the creative class and thereby they have<br />

the prerequisite to become creative cities.<br />

5. Well-managed cities with financial and organizational<br />

resources are more able to provide suitable environments<br />

for a creative economy.<br />

6. It was emphasized that a well-formulated, wellfinanced<br />

and achievable city/region innovation and<br />

technology policy is an important factor in its movement<br />

on the described path.<br />

Based on the survey and an assessment of the aforementioned<br />

compendium of criteria, the following cities could<br />

be considered to be creative cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona,<br />

Dublin, Munich and Helsinki with certain reservations.<br />

The qualifications of smaller cities and those that<br />

are not capitals is made more difficult due already to the<br />

first criterion. Nevertheless two cities that were examined<br />

– Toulouse and Birmingham – which are not among<br />

the capitals of countries, autonomous units or states collected<br />

relatively good scores, based on which they are at<br />

least approaching the ideals described above. The example<br />

of Birmingham is interesting because it is not a city with<br />

great historical-cultural value and in previous periods has<br />

not been considered to be a multifaceted city. Its success<br />

has been achieved recently by developing and realizing<br />

conscious policies directed at promoting creativity and a<br />

creative economy.<br />

Attempting to assess Tallinn and Tartu based on the<br />

aforementioned aspects, it seems that Tallinn has relatively<br />

good prerequisites regarding most of the criteria.<br />

Although, like most other cities it was over-industrialized<br />

(“Fordized”) during the socialist period, its restructuring<br />

into a modern service economy has occurred quite<br />

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