Metropolitan Research Institute

Metropolitan Research Institute, Budapest

Urban development

New study: on the metropolitan dimensions of urban manufacturing (ESPON MISTA) co-authored by MRI

A recent study co-authored by MRI on the metropolitan dimensions of urban manufacturing (ESPON MISTA) has just been launched on the ESPON website. The study was carried out by Politechnico Milano, WIFO – Austrian Institute of Economic Research, Latitude and Metropolitan Research Institute.

The study is organised around the role of manufacturing in urban areas of Europe with special attention to the forseen challenges of the 4th industrial revolution and the specific sectors of manufacturing in different urban areas that ensure the satisfacton of local needs but keeps the competitive position of cities at the same time. In order to reach these goals the research concentrates on finding the proper coordination mechanisms on metropolitan scale in the framework of fragmented governance systems.

The study evaluates the general trends in the manufacturing sector (decreasing labour force but increasing added value) in and around urban centres and analyses the spatial dynamics of different segments of manufacturing moving out from urban cores. The study also aims to identify possibilities for cooperation through which a more optimal division of manufacturing capacities can be achieved on a metropolitan scale based on the cases of Berlin, Oslo, Riga, Stuttgart, Turin, Vienna and Warsaw.

The study concludes that to a certain extent the division of roles in manufacturing between the city cores and their agglomeration is natural: having high added value activities inside cores where land prices are high, while locating manufacturing activities with high land use and transportation needs outside cities. However, this natural phenomenon tends to be harmful in cases where it generates additional transportation flows of goods and people, emptying out the city cores of basic manufacturing activities which provided jobs and sustained services. Thus, stronger interventions by public actors are needed not only on the level of the city but rather across whole urban functional areas to influence locational decisions of individual companies.

You can find the study with all its attachments at https://www.espon.eu/mista

UPLIFT Project- Two New Deliverables are Available

At the end of December, the UPLIFT team (the project of which is coordinated by MRI) has submitted two essential deliverables on socio-economic inequalities in Europe. The main aim of the deliverables was to create a theoretical framework for analysing urban inequalities with the main focus of the younger generation (aged 15-29).

The Atlas of Inequalities (Deliverable 1.3) summarizes the main social inequality tendencies in Europe, with a special focus on the urban young adults. The analysis was carried out for the years 2007/2008; 2012 and 2018, which provide us information about inequalities just before and shortly after the economic crisis and then the latest data enables us to see how countries recovered from the crisis with regard to socio-economic inequalities. For the analysis the EU Study on income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) and Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) were used. Besides analysing the indicators on the national level, the analysis was carried out on NUTS1 or NUTS2 regions, where data was available.

The Framework Study on Inequalities (Deliverable 1.4) identifies and shortly describes the drivers of inequalities in the context they occur: different governance levels, in different domains (housing, employment, education). In addition an urban typology was created based on the potential linkage of social cohesion (measured by a complex equity index and a labour market exclusion index) and economic competitiveness (measured by innovation index, productivity, globalization and population change). The Metropolitan Areas database was used for this analysis, providing comparable data for the years of 2017/2018 in 110 metropolitan areas.

Please find the studies here:

D1.3 Atlas of Inequalities in Europe

D1.4 Framework Study on Inequalities

‘Cities against the pandemic’ by Iván Tosics

In the COVID 19 crisis cities are key stakeholders fighting for environmental and social sustainability. Their contribution to tackling the present crisis could serve as a blueprint for future social policies that take into consideration social justice and the green economy. In many countries, cities are the last bastion of progressive social policies. It is therefore essential that we learn from the mistakes of the past and avoid a renewed wave of austerity against municipal budgets. In this paper, concrete examples are given of the vital role local governments play in the fight against the pandemic.

The article is available here.

A new H2020 Project, coordinated by MRI, was just kicked-off in Budapest

UPLIFT project – “Urban PoLicy Innovation to address inequality with and for Future generaTions” (2020-2022) coordinated by MRI – has successfully launched on 28-29 January in a kick-off meeting organized in Budapest.

The UPLIFT project aims to understand the main drivers of urban socio-economic and spatial inequalities focusing mainly on the younger generation (15-29) in the post-crisis area. The analysis will be done on four levels: (1) understanding the relation between socio-economic inequalities and spatial inequalities on European level, (2) understanding how local policies are able to influence urban inequalities in a sample of 16 functional urban areas, (3) analysing by means of interviews with vulnerable young and policy experts how local policies are in interaction with household decisions in 8 cities. As a result of all these analyses, UPLIFT will create – with the active involvement of vulnerable youth – local Reflexive Policy Agendas: new local policies that are more sensitive to the changing needs of the target group. This co-creation process will be carried out in 4 locations: Amsterdam (NL), Barakaldo (ES), Sfântu Gheorghe (RO), and Tallinn (EE).

Urban planning and the aftermath of the crisis: Iván Tosics in Urbanisme

The global crisis and recession created a new situation for urban financing. Severe changes in economic and financial conditions extorted the revision of existing public policies. Under the worsening financial conditions, the traditional functioning of cities collapsed – writes MRI director Iván Tosics in the special issue of Urbanisme, focusing on the URBACT programme.