Centre for Cities produces excellent reports that always make me think about how we can spread best practices to make the whole UK as brilliant as it can be. Cambridge shows well again here and it is very valuable to highlight these key areas.
- Claire Ruskin, Cambridge Network CEO
Cambridge was also found to have the highest skilled population of all European cities.The report notes that Cambridge benefits from its world-class University, a cluster of innovative tech industries and a number of public (or publicly funded) research institutions. All of this creates a very rare and powerful “regional innovative system”.
The report says that despite exceptions like Cambridge, UK cities lag behind European competitors for skills, productivity and innovation. It concludes that, as the country prepares to leave the EU, most UK cities must urgently address these issues to have the best chance of competing with European counterparts for the industries and jobs that offer long-term growth and prosperity.
Claire Ruskin, Cambridge Network's CEO, commented: "Centre for Cities produces excellent reports that always make me think about how we can spread best practices to make the whole UK as brilliant as it can be. Cambridge shows well again here and it is very valuable to highlight these key areas."
Also welcoming the report, Cllr Lewis Herbert, Leader of Cambridge City Council, said: “We in Cambridge feel that this is a city of considerable magic, both for its quality of life and for its uniquely successful business community.
“It is helpful to have that confirmed by this new report from the Centre for Cities. It shows the strength of our universities, our businesses and the innovative people who live, work and study here.
“Cambridge is clearly a great place to come and do business, and for government and businesses to invest in. Through the Local Plan we have put forward, and the City Deal investments we are making with our partners, we are working hard to ensure Cambridge remains open for business, locally, nationally and internationally, into the future.
“However, we are not complacent, and are also working hard through the proposed devolution deal to secure £70 million to build new council housing in Cambridge and £100m for affordable housing across Cambridgeshire.
“We aim to ensure that more local people can gain the skills they need to take part in our growing knowledge economy. In addition we want to help people across all incomes find the housing that they need and can afford, so everyone can share in the city’s future prosperity.”
The report reveals that UK cities account for over a fifth of Europe’s urban economic output – the largest share of any nation in the continent – and play a bigger role within the national economy than cities in other European countries, contributing 60% of the UK’s national economic output (compared to just 36% in Germany and 32% in Italy).
However, the report shows that most UK cities fall below the European urban average for skills, productivity and innovation – weaknesses which must be addressed to help cities across the UK to compete globally, particularly for the knowledge-intensive firms and jobs which are increasingly important for boosting growth, employment and wages:
- Nine out of ten UK cities (57 out of 63) perform below the European average in terms of productivity, and more than half (39) are among the 25% least productive cities in the continent.
- More than three out of four UK cities (48) have a lower proportion of high-skilled residents than the European average. UK cities are also home to the third highest concentration of low-skilled residents in the continent, behind only Spanish and Polish cities.
- Only two UK cities (Cambridge and Oxford) are in the European top 20 for innovation, and around four out of five (49) fall below the continental average. Despite its vibrant economy, London only generated eight patents per resident in 2011, compared to 26 patents per resident in Paris and 10 in Berlin.
The UK economy relies on a handful of high-performing cities for growth. London, for example, is the biggest economy in Europe, and accounts for a quarter of the UK’s economic output – more than Paris’ contribution to the French economy (20%), and significantly bigger than Berlin’s role in the German economy (4%).
Given these findings, the report argues that strengthening UK city economies – by tackling skills-gaps and empowering places to boost local growth – must be a top priority for the Government in its new industrial strategy, and in the forthcoming autumn statement.
Commenting on the report, Alexandra Jones, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, said: “No other economy in Europe is so dependent on the performance of its cities, yet too many of the UK’s urban areas are failing to realise their potential. For the country to thrive in the years to come, it’s vital that the Government works with cities to address the skills and productivity gaps holding most places back.
“In particular, the Government should ensure that any new funding commitments in the Autumn Statement focus on boosting the key drivers of growth in cities, such as skills, transport and housing. Over the long-term, it should also build on its devolution agenda by giving places the powers they need – and which European counterparts already enjoy – to grow their local economies.”
The report ‘Competing with the Continent – how UK cities compare with European counterparts’, is available to download at http://www.centreforcities.org/competing-with-the-continent
Highlights
- In total, 11 UK cities are in the European top 25 per cent for the number of patents per inhabitants. Two cities, Cambridge and Oxford, rank in the top 20 cities on this measure, with 74 and 50 patents per 100,000 inhabitants respectively.
- 15 of the top 20 cities have at least one university ranked in the top 500 QS World University Ranking. Among these, six cities have a university ranked in the world top 100: Cambridge, Oxford, Zurich, Lausanne, Munich and Heidelberg. But university R&D does not tell the whole story. Many of these cities also have high numbers of innovative and tech industries, which benefit from the proximity to public research institutions for collaboration and retention of talented workers. Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Cambridge in the UK or Grenoble in France are examples of such “regional innovative systems”.
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For more information, or to arrange an interview with Alexandra Jones, please contact please contact Brian Semple, Press Manager for the Centre for Cities, on 0207 803 4316 / 07595 439 638 or [email protected]
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