The Role of universities for economic development in urban poles

Cities are widely recognised as playing a fundamental role in the promotion of the knowledge economy but most research and policy has focussed on large cities with World-class educational and research institutes and advanced clusters of economic activity. There are clear and significant gaps in the knowledge of how smaller sized cities, with different levels and types of knowledge institutions and different levels of economic activity can compete within the Knowledge Economy. Yet such cities are recognised within European Union policy as playing a vital role in the implementation of the Lisbon agenda. This paper summarises the development phase of the URBACT II Thematic Network RUnUP (The Role of Universities for Economic Development in Urban Poles) and the perspectives of the 9 partner medium-sized European Cities in the Knowledge Economy. The network has addressed in a uniquely different way the fundamental issues of how universities should engage with their local communities with a particular focus on medium-sized cities; the role of local authorities and municipalities and the importance of triple helix structures for supporting economic development and encouraging entrepreneurship. The network has provided a unique opportunity to examine the role of universities in urban poles from the perspective of Local Government, given the constitution of the 9 partner cities rather than a traditional model taking Universities as the point of reference. In the development phase this unique perspective has provided valuable insights; namely that; Universities are positioned as mechanisms for research and development and subsequently licensing, patenting and spin-outs (and this is reinforced in European and National policies), although this may not be where their potential for supporting local economic development truly exists; that Local Government organisations see Universities primarily as vehicles for Education and Research & Development and expect them to support the development of their local economy by default although universities operate in regional, national and international markets and are not entirely (if at all) aligned to local priorities; and that an economic development perspective examining the needs of the local economy, its modernisation, transformation, transplantation and new sector creation establishes common ground where local priorities can be articulated and the role of the university in this context can be openly explored and suitable knowledge transfer approaches defined in support of triple-helix development Publisher statement: Used by permission of the Publishers from ‘The role of universities for economic development in urban poles’, in Towns in a Rural World eds. Teresa de Noronha Vaz, Eveline van Leeuwen and Peter Nijkamp (Farnham: Ashgate, 2013), pp. 213–229. Copyright © 2013