sig.urbanismosevilla.org...this publication has been co-financed by the european commission in the...
TRANSCRIPT
-
Avilés - Bordeaux - Brest - Cardiff - Sevilla - Dublin - Gijón - Lisboa - Porto
STRATEGIES FOR
REVITALISING
INDUSTRIAL SITES
IN THE ATLANTIC
AREA
-
This publication has been co-financed bythe European Commission in theframework of Interreg IIIB-Atlantic Area
Produced and edited bySevilla GlobalAgencia Urbana de PromociónEconómica.AYUNTAMIENTO DE SEVILLAPabellón de Italia, 3ª plta. Isla de laCartuja41092 SevillaTel + 34 95 446 75 [email protected]
Preparation and technical supportSevilla GlobalRosa Mar Prieto-Castro García-Alix. CityCouncillor in charge of economics andindustry. Vice-president of Sevilla Global.
Miguel Rivas Casado. Managing Directorof Sevilla Global.
Victoria Bravo Barquilla. Departmenthead, Business sector support.
Pedro Maestre Sánchez. TechnicalProject consultant.
Consultores de lasAdministraciones Públicas
Ricardo Méndez Gutiérrez del Valle
Inmaculada Caravaca Barroso
Aida Mendoza Bonet
Simón Sánchez Moral
Designed byUndergraf
ISBN: 84-932737
Depósito Legal: SE-6061-05
-
STRAT
EGIE
S FO
R R
EVIT
ALI
SIN
G I
ND
UST
RIA
L SI
TES
IN T
HE
ATLA
NTI
C A
REA
3
REVITA Partners
Lead partner: Sevilla GlobalAgencia Urbana de Promoción Económica delAyuntamiento de Sevilla
Contact detailsPabellón de Italia. Isaac Newton, s/nIsla de la Cartuja 41092 SevillaTel (+34) 95 446 75 55Fax (+34) 95 446 75 58
Ayuntamiento de Avilés
Contact detailsC/ Plaza de España, nº 133402 Avilés. AsturiasTel (+34) 98 512 21 09Fax (+34) 98 554 15 38
alcaldí[email protected]
Ayuntamiento de GijónAgencia Local de Promoción Económica y Empleo
Contact detailsPaseo de la Infancia s/n, 2ª planta33207, Gijón – AsturiasTel (+ 34) 98 518 15 55Fax (+ 34) 98 518 15 62
Cámara municipal de Lisboa
Contact detailsPraÇa do Municipio1100-365 LisboaTel (+351) 213 23 61 75Fax (+351) 213 23 61 79
Parque Expo Lisboa
Contact detailsAv. D. Joao II, Lote 1.07.2.11998-014 LisboaTel (+351) 218 91 95 74Fax (+351) 218 91 92 [email protected]
Promoción y desarrollo Regional, S.A.
Contact detailsRua Eng Frederico Ulrich, nº 26504470-605 Moreira da Maia (Oporto)Tel (+341) 229 40 82 40Fax (+341) 229 40 17 40
Bordeaux technowest
Contact details19 Allée James WattDomaine James Watt, Bâtiment C, 1er étage 33700 Mérignac BordeauxTel.: (+33) 556343544Fax: (+33) 556343275
Communauté Urbaine de Brest
Contact details24, rue Coat ar GuevenBP 92242 - 29222 Brest Cedex 2Tel (+33) 298 33 53 02Fax (+33) 298 33 51 68
Dublin City Council
Contact detailsCivic Offices, Wood QuayDublin 8Tel (+353) 1 222 28 39Fax (+353)1 222 77 80
Cardiff Council
Contact detailsCounty Hall - Atlantic WharfCardiff CF 104 UWTel (+44) 29 2087 2671Fax (+44) 29 2087 3233
Conference of Atlantic Arc Cities
Contact details6, Rue Saint-Martin F-35700 RennesTel (+33) 299 35 40 60Fax (+33) 299 30 24 51
-
5
STRAT
EGIE
S FO
R R
EVIT
ALI
SIN
G I
ND
UST
RIA
L SI
TES
IN T
HE
ATLA
NTI
C A
REA
I. REVITA project ................................................................................................................................................................7
II. Need for revitalisation strategies in the Atlantic Arc Area ..............................................................................17
III. REVITA case studies ................................................................................................................................................33
Avilés ......................................................................................................................................................34
Bordeaux - Technowest ....................................................................................................................40
Brest ......................................................................................................................................................46
Cardiff ....................................................................................................................................................52
Dublin ....................................................................................................................................................58
Gijón ......................................................................................................................................................64
Lisboa ....................................................................................................................................................70
Lisboa - Parque das NaÇões ............................................................................................................76
Primus - Porto ......................................................................................................................................84
Sevilla ....................................................................................................................................................92
IV. Industrial revitalisation and development policies:
towards a catalogue of best practices ......................................................................................................................99
V. Revita partners ..........................................................................................................................................................111
VI Estrategias de revitalización de espacios industriales en el Área Atlántica..............................................117
Index
-
I
I REVITA PROJECT
-
STRAT
EGIE
S FO
R R
EVIT
ALI
SIN
G I
ND
UST
RIA
L SI
TES
IN T
HE
ATLA
NTI
C A
REA
REV
ITA
PRO
JEC
T
9
I
I. REVITA projectThe first chapter contains the details of the project titled REVITA:Atlantic Strategy for the Revitalisation of Industrial Sites,specifying the objectives set, the activities completed and theresults obtained during its two-year term.
II. Need for revitalisation strategies in the Atlantic arcThis chapter begins by providing a theoretical framework as ameans of interpreting the industrial processes observed in thetowns and cities in the Atlantic arc in recent decades. This is fol-lowed by a brief summary of these processes, focusing on inherit-ed industrial features, sectors of specialisation and innovationpotential in Atlantic regions, in relation to the European Communityenvironment. Finally, it analyses past cooperation on industrialdevelopment in the Atlantic area, highlighting the innovativeapproach adopted in the REVITA project.
III. REVITA case studiesThis section presents the experiences of the REVITA partner net-work in industrial revitalisation in the form of fact sheets, providinginformation on the key features of the projects implemented, suchas the geographical scope, the initial analysis and the specificationsof the strategies in terms of objectives, players, finance, results, etc.
IV. Strategy guidelinesBased on the wide range of cases analysed, both within and outsidethe REVITA network, this final section reviews the action criteria forvarious aspects of industrial revitalisation and redevelopmentstrategies.
Finally, the annex provides an extensive bibliography on industrytrends and economic revitalisation strategies in the towns and citiesin the European Atlantic arc.
The industrial revitalisation of the towns and cities in the European Atlantic arc, which are facing the declineof some of their legacy industries and the dereliction and poor quality of many of the areas in which they arelocated, is a challenge to which many public and private efforts have been devoted over the last twodecades.
Evidently, the industrial industrial history of these towns and cities varies from one case to another. While some of
them had large-scale industrial complexes – mainly port facilities – based on leading sectors and located on large
sites, which had a significant impact on the environment and underwent a deep crisis, others maintained a diversi-
fied production structure, with more technology-intensive sectors and more small and medium-sized enterprises,
enabling them to develop and perform better. Consequently, urban redevelopment strategies based on industrial
revitalisation have gained in importance in recent years, although they have been implemented in different ways.
For instance, Seville’s redevelopment strategy has been channelled through the Comprehensive Revitalisation Plan
for Industrial Sites in the City of Seville, a process coordinated by Sevilla Global, Seville City Council’s Urban Agency
for Economic Development, which is engaged in promoting the development of a renovated network of business
parks adapted to new business demands and the new urban development profile designed for Seville.
The project titled REVITA: Atlantic Strategy for the Revitalisation of Industrial Sites, of which this conference forms
part, has completed an in-depth analysis of these processes with an overall objective to support the generation and
implementation of innovative experiences in the redevelopment and regeneration of brownfield sites in the Atlantic
area, with a significant impact on the economic revitalisation and urban reuse of such areas, based on close
transnational cooperation among the towns and cities taking part. The aim is to help build more competitive, intel-
ligent, cohesive and sustainable towns and cities, improving the quality of life and taking environmental considera-
tions into account.
The project has led to the preparation of this Common Strategy Document, which seeks to summarise the
results obtained by the REVITA transnational cooperation project and put together a set of recommen-
dations for the implementation of industrial revitalisation strategies in the Atlantic arc.
Based on this two-fold objective, the document is structured as follows:
-
STRAT
EGIE
S FO
R R
EVIT
ALI
SIN
G I
ND
UST
RIA
L SI
TES
IN T
HE
ATLA
NTI
C A
REA
REV
ITA
PRO
JEC
T
11
II.2 Transnational thematic seminars
I.2.1 First thematic seminar in Oporto
The first thematic seminar took place on 9 July 2004 in Oporto andwas organised by the regional development agency Primus at theTecmaia technology park. For this seminar, the chosen theme wasFunctional regeneration (business, technology and the environ-ment) of industrial sites.
At this first exchange of experiences among the REVITA networkpartners, a total of eight papers were presented: Primus, Lisbon(municipal authorities and Parque Expo), Cardiff, Gijón, SevillaGlobal, Technowest and Brest. Attendance at the conference wasvery high, with the active participation of more than 60 people.
The presentations and discussion revealed the diversity of experi-ences of the partner network. While some are still at the prelimi-nary or initial stages of their revitalisation programmes (Avilés,Brest, Dublin, Gijón, Lisbon, Seville and Technowest), others were
able to share their experiences of partially or completely imple-mented projects (Cardiff, Parque Expo, Primus), which have pro-duced concrete results.
The exchange aroused the mutual interest of the different partners:Brest was interested in Lisbon’s experience in converting industrialbuildings and conserving industrial heritage; Seville and Bordeauxshared an interest in aviation clusters; Avilés and Brest are both har-bour towns where a great deal of ground space previously occupiedby the iron and steel industry has been freed up.
I.2.2 Second thematic seminar in Gijón
The second thematic seminar was organised by Gijón City Councilon 28 October 2004, and the theme was The Future of Logistics.Functional Regeneration of Industrial Sites. On the following day,the first benchmarking workshop was held in Avilés for the partnersinvolved in the project.
A total of six papers were delivered at the seminar: four by REVITApartners (Gijón, Lisbon, Cardiff and Sevilla Global) and two by exter-nal experts from the University of Oviedo and the regional govern-ment of Andalusia. The round tables were complemented by twotechnical visits to give participants an insight into the current situa-tion of business and industry in Gijón and Avilés.
Discussion at the seminar focused on the definition, importanceand planning of logistics sites in both harbour and inland townsand cities. After clarifying a series of concepts related to the so-called logistics platforms, partners reviewed the types of areasbased on means of transport. Discussion then turned to the strate-
First REVITA thematic seminar – Oporto
Second REVITA thematic seminar – Gijón
-
12
gic factors and economic benefits of implementing activities ofthis kind in coastal harbour towns and cities, such as Gijón andLisbon, including:• port redevelopment;• development of maritime-intensive industrial activity;• integration in the Iberian peninsular logistics corridor network.
The partners also presented experiences in inland towns and cities(Seville – actions carried out by the regional government ofAndalusia), associated with the creation of increasingly multi-modal cargo transportation facilities (air, road, rail and port), whichare better integrated on a regional, national and international scale.
The moderator brought the first round table to a close emphasisingthe importance of logistics sites as a revitalising factor forregions, with the creation of activities around the port, which gen-erate wealth and added value, and a faster and more efficient distri-bution chain, which makes it possible for local enterprises to bemore competitive on both domestic and international markets.
The discussion that arose during the second round table revealedthat efforts to develop logistics activity in a town or city are greatlyinfluenced by existing circumstances, which means that generalisa-tions cannot be readily drawn. Key factors include potentialdemand from the business fabric, the availability of land and geo-graphical location, there being greater potential for logistics devel-opment in centrally located towns and cities.
I.2.3 Third thematic seminar in Cardiff
The third thematic seminar was organised by Cardiff City Council on1-2 December 2004 and focused on Economic revitalisation on alocal, regional and national scale. A total of three papers were deliv-ered by REVITA network partners: Cardiff, Dublin and Seville. Thepapers and discussion were complemented by a technical visit toCardiff Bay to gain an insight into one of the most emblematic eco-nomic regeneration projects in Europe.
The first half of the day was devoted to the presentation of the caseof Cardiff Bay, one of the REVITA network projects with thehighest potential in terms of the transfer of knowledge tothe other partners, because it is one of the largest and most com-
plete regeneration projects in Europe. An account was given of thecity’s economic history to provide an insight into the transformationprocess that has taken place over the last three decades, with thediversification of the production structure from an industry-driven toa services economy. Special emphasis was placed on the key roleof inward investment, which, to a large extent, made the changepossible.
This was followed by a regional view of the revitalisation policies,with a look at the achievements of the Welsh Development Agency.The agency was created in 1976 with four basic objectives: to pro-mote economic development, increase the competitiveness of theindustrial sector, protect existing enterprises and improve the envi-ronment. Finally, attention turned to the local level with the experi-ence of Cardiff Bay, highlighting the importance of urban marketingefforts and the catalysing role of Cardiff Bay DevelopmentCorporation, created for the sole purpose of spearheading theregeneration of the bay area.
This and subsequent papers, which presented the case of Dublinand reviewed redevelopment policies in other major Europeancities, gave rise to discussion of the players involved in revital-isation strategies. The debate revealed that there was often a gapbetween what was expected of local authorities and what theywere capable of doing and between their powers and the resourcesavailable, which were generally insufficient to implement and guar-antee the success of large-scale revitalisation efforts.
I.3 REVITA benchmarking
I.3.1 Definition and objectives
The benchmarking process was carried out in the framework of theREVITA project to provide a systematic comparison of industrialrevitalisation experiences in progress or completed in the citiesinvolved in the project. The process took the form of two workshopsfor the selection of indicators, the compilation of good practiceguidelines, and the joint preparation of an indicators handbook.
Indicators for the intermunicipal comparison were measured onthe basis of the expectations (ex ante) and actual results (ex
Technical visit to Cardiff Bay – Cardiff Harbour Authority
Technical visit in Gijón – Gijón Science and Technology Park
-
STRAT
EGIE
S FO
R R
EVIT
ALI
SIN
G I
ND
UST
RIA
L SI
TES
IN T
HE
ATLA
NTI
C A
REA
REV
ITA
PRO
JEC
T
13
I
post) of the different industrial revitalisation strategies implement-ed in the REVITA network cities. Unlike traditional benchmarkingprocesses, which focus only on results a posteriori, the REVITAproject incorporates the innovative feature of a comparison a pri-ori, as most of the partners compared their strategies at the stagebefore implementation to implementation.
I.3.2 Stages of the process
The first benchmarking workshop on the definition andselection of indicators, which took place during the second REVI-TA thematic seminar in Avilés, gave the following results:
• classification of partners by geographical area in which revitalisa-tion measures were implemented;
• classification of partners by type of revitalisation strategy;• identification of key features of industrial revitalisation strategy in
terms of players involved, management, finance and external cir-cumstances;
• debate on the different types of strategy;• debate and consensus on the sorts indicators to be used for the comparison.
After the first workshop, an indicators handbook was prepared toinclude the agreed list of indicators, providing a definition of eachone and explaining the method of calculation.
The second benchmarking workshop on the assessment ofresults and good practice, which was held during the third REVI-TA thematic seminar in Cardiff, focused on the following areas:
• presentation of the indicator tables drawn up by the partners;• verification of the calculation of indicators;• validation of the indicators handbook;• comments on positive and negative divergences;• review of the results of the process and the medium-term outlook.
I.3.3 Results
Benchmarking in the REVITA project has been undertaken as aniterative process, which will continue in time, so that the panel ofindicators can be completed as the partners obtain the relevantinformation.
The methodology used can also be considered a significant out-put of the project, as it can be easily adapted and applied to projectsaddressing other areas with similar characteristics (experienceexchanges).
The first benchmarking workshop produced a classification ofpartners by geographical area of action and type of strategy imple-mented.
The first REVITA benchmarking workshop – Avilés
Supra-municipalMunicipalSub-municipal (districts, suburbs, etc.)Production units (business parks,technology parks, etc.)CompaniesOther geographical scopes
Parque Expo could not attend.
Geographical scope of industrialrevitalisation actions A
vilé
sB
rest
Car
dif
fD
ub
linG
ijón
Lisb
on
P
rim
us
Sev
ille
Tech
no
wes
tThe first REVITA benchmarking workshop – Avilés
-
14
The responses were used to produce an initial sketch of the geo-graphical scope of the different revitalisation actions, whichprovided a starting point for the strategy analysis. Indeed, definingthe institutional players involved and their geographical area ofaction was just as important as identifying the objectives set foreach case.
The most common type of industrial revitalisation strategyimplemented by the partners is redevelopment, apart from globaleconomic development strategies. In addition to the industrial revi-talisation dimension (with the identification of five elements: pro-motion, redevelopment, business guidance, innovation and tech-nology transfer and information dissemination), this type of strategyalso includes other dimensions such as improving infrastructures,increasing the income of cities and implementing sustainable eco-nomic growth models.
The indicators were designed taking into account the purpose ofthe REVITA project, i.e. industrial revitalisation, and the responses ofthe partners taking part in the benchmarking workshop, where thenature of the different strategies being implemented was dis-cussed.
The indicators selected as a result of the benchmarkingprocess, based on the three target dimensions, were as follows.
One of the panels produced during the first REVITA benchmarking workshopon factors conditioning industrial revitalisation strategy
Development of land and buildingsfor business and redevelopment ofexisting industrial sitesRedevelopment of a former militaryurban siteDevelopment of land and buildingsfor businessRedevelopment of existing industrialsitesSupport and guidance for enterprises:enterprise start-up, grants andsubsidies, technical consultancy,connection with other playersInnovation and technology transfer:promotion and management oftechnopoles, enterprise incubators,RDI programmesDissemination of information: urbanmarketing, Internet portals, land andbuilding catalogues, reports andpublicationsOther strategiesGlobal economic developmentstrategy (industrial, infrastructures,quality of urban life, etc.)
Parque Expo could not attend.
Nature of industrial revitalisation strategy A
vilé
sB
rest
Car
dif
fD
ub
linG
ijón
Lisb
on
P
rim
us
Sev
ille
Tech
no
wes
t
-
STRAT
EGIE
S FO
R R
EVIT
ALI
SIN
G I
ND
UST
RIA
L SI
TES
IN T
HE
ATLA
NTI
C A
REA
REV
ITA
PRO
JEC
T
15
I
DEGREE OF ACHIEVEMENT
1 Industrial area occupied as a percentage of the total surfacearea of the geographical scope
2 New productive area occupied as an annual percentage oftotal productive area in the geographical scope
3 New productive activities as an annual percentage of totalproductive activities in the geographical scope
4 Employment in new productive activities as an annualpercentage of total employment in productive activities in thegeographical scope
5 Productive activities in high-technology sectors as apercentage of total productive activities in the geographicalscope
6 Productive activities in medium-technology sectors as apercentage of total productive activities in the geographicalscope
7 Productive activities in low-technology sectors as apercentage of total productive activities in the geographicalscope
8 Productive activities by enterprises with fewer than 10/50workers as a percentage of total productive activities in thegeographical scope
9 Productive activities with a turnover of less than EUR700,000 as a percentage of total productive activities in thegeographical scope
10 Redeveloped industrial land as a percentage of total industrialland in the geographical scope
11 Number of residential units in the geographical scope12 Number of jobs created in the geographical scope13 Number of jobs maintained in the geographical scope14 Number of enterprises created in the geographical scope15 Number of enterprises maintained in the geographical scope
ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT
16 Annual average spending on industrial revitalisation actions17 Spending on industrial revitalisation actions as a percentage
of the total municipal budget18 Spending on industrial revitalisation actions as a percentage
of the total budget for industrial policies19 Financing from European Union funds as a percentage of the
total budget for industrial revitalisation actions20 Financing from other public funds as a percentage of the
total budget for industrial revitalisation actions21 Financing from private funds as a percentage of the total
budget for industrial revitalisation actions22 Spending on the development of new industrial sites as a
percentage of the total budget for industrial revitalisationactions
23 Spending on the redevelopment of existing industrial sites asa percentage of the total budget for industrial revitalisationactions
24 Spending on subsidies for enterprise start-up as a percentageof the total budget for industrial revitalisation actions
25 Spending on subsidies for technical consultancy andbusiness guidance for enterprises as a percentage of the totalbudget for industrial revitalisation actions
26 Spending on the technological modernisation of enterprisesas a percentage of the total budget for industrial revitalisationactions
27 Spending on RDI programmes as a percentage of the totalbudget for industrial revitalisation actions
28 Spending on the dissemination of information onrevitalisation measures (urban marketing, industrialcatalogues, websites, etc.) as a percentage of the totalbudget for industrial revitalisation actions
29 Spending on other industrial revitalisation measures as apercentage of the total budget for industrial revitalisationactions
LEVEL OF SATISFACTION
30 Level of satisfaction of enterprises established in the areawith the revitalisation actions implemented in thegeographical scope
31 Level of satisfaction of other companies with therevitalisation actions implemented in the geographical scope
32 Level of satisfaction of social players with the revitalisationactions implemented in the geographical scope
33 Level of satisfaction of workers with the revitalisation actionsimplemented in the geographical scope
34 Level of satisfaction of citizens with the revitalisation actionsimplemented in the geographical scope
In addition to the degree of achievement, economic managementand level of satisfaction indicators, participants were also asked toprovide general background information to facilitate theprocess.
GENERAL BACKGROUND INDICATORS
A Total surface area of the geographical scope (m2)B Number of inhabitants in the geographical scopeC Term of the revitalisation plans, in years (past and/or future)D Number of potentially benefited inhabitants in the
geographical scope
The information collected by each of the partners will be posted onthe corresponding section on the project’s website, as it becomesavailable.
-
II
II NEED FOR REVITALISATIONSTRATEGIES IN THE ATLANTICARC AREA
-
STRAT
EGIE
SFO
RREV
ITALI
SIN
GIN
DU
STRIA
LSI
TES
INTH
EAT
LAN
TIC
AREA
NEE
DFO
RR
EVIT
ALI
SA
TIO
NST
RA
TEG
IES
INTH
EA
TLA
NTI
CA
RCA
REA
19
IIII NEED FOR REVITALISATION STRATEGIES IN THEATLANTIC ARC AREA
II.1 Recent transformations and revitalisationstrategies: an interpretive scheme for an industrialassessment of Atlantic arc towns and cities
For the past two decades at least, the internal structure andmorphology of Europe’s Atlantic arc towns and cities andtheir external relations have been undergoing deep andrapid transformations, which directly affect the performance oftheir enterprises and the way of life of their citizens and present newdevelopment and planning challenges.
With regard to productive activities, the competitive strategiesimplemented by enterprises are changing to adapt to the new tech-nological environment, to more flexible and segmented organisa-tion models and to markets characterised by increasing opennessand enlargement. This generates new opportunities, but alsorequires them to face new competitors and greater demands forinnovation, challenges which not all of them are in a position tomeet. At the same time, job markets are changing, with greater
demands for training and the emergence of new sources of employ-ment, which often go hand in hand with an increase in job insecuri-ty and more precarious forms of employment. Finally, the diversifi-cation of the spatial patterns of productive activities, enterprisesand jobs reinforce the specialisation of urban sectors and result inthe construction of metropolitan systems with ever broader andmore blurred limits.
These changes have affected the recent development of industrialareas, which are part of the inherited features of these towns andcities, often originally linked to port activities. Beyond the specificexperience of each town or city, theoretical reflection togain insight into the key factors explaining these processesand their effects on urban reality would seem a worthwhileexercise. It would also be useful from an operational point of viewfor forecasting future trends, which are not yet fully consolidated,but which need to be taken into account when proposing newindustrial revitalisation strategies.
The interpretive proposal put forward in this document bases theassessment on industrial sites in Atlantic arc towns and cities, focus-ing on two types of basic factors, as shown in the diagram below.
KEY FACTORS IN THE ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN ATLANTIC ARC TOWNS AND CITIES
STRUCTURAL PROCESSES
Internal relocation processes andoutward diffusion of industry
Transformation of the urban economy:from the industrial city to the tertiary
Industrial city
ACTION STRATEGIES OF PUBLICAUTHORITIES (urban planning,
redevelopment policies, etc.)
Inherited industrial features: productionstructure, employment and urban
environment
Assessment of industrial sites and activityin atlantic arc towns and cities
-
20
1 A summary of recent international bibliographic references on this subject can be found in Lambooy and Moulaert (1998), Crevoisier and Camagni (2000), Jalabert
(2001), Caravaca and Méndez (2003) and Meyronin (2003).
2 The extensive bibliography on this subject, often using the Atlantic arc cities and regions as a subject for analysis, includes works such as those by Ballance and Sinclair
(1983), Martin and Rowthorn (1988), Landabaso and Díez (1989) and Vandermotten et al (1992).
3 A summary of this concept can be found in Cheshire and Hay (1989) and Caravaca and Méndez (1993).
LOCAL RESPONSES
There are structural processes that respond to the new organisa-tion of productive activity and changes in the competitive strategiesof numerous enterprises, as they become part of the so-calledknowledge society and flexible system of production in a globalworld. This readjusts urban and metropolitan economy trends andleads to the development of certain industrial areas, while othersare affected by a sharp decline in their traditional activities, makingredevelopment necessary.
This situation is particularly evident in many Atlantic arc townsand cities as a result of the industrial structure that they haveinherited, characterised by the predominance of low-technologysectors, which are very dependent on natural resources andlabour and traditionally affected by cost competition and signifi-cant negative environmental externalities. These sectors had todeal with a new competitive framework, which led many of theminto crisis several decades ago. The adjustment processes, cou-pled with the difficulties involved in generating local initiatives orattracting external investment, highlighted the need to combinehorizontal industrial policies with the redevelopment of brown-field sites and the development of other new sites better adaptedto new quality requirements. The strategies applied by localand regional public authorities to achieve these aims havevaried greatly and resulted in differing industrial sectordevelopments.
It can therefore be concluded that while many Atlantic arc townsand cities have certain elements of their industrial past in common(more or less evident today in their inherited features), they haveundergone very different restructuring processes, which haveoften required specific regeneration strategies. In other words, theexistence of a single industrial activity model for theAtlantic arc is only sustainable in relation to their commonpast, but not in relation to recent developments or the responsesof local authorities.
II.1.1 Transformation of urban industry: the transitiontowards a tertiary industrial economy
For the last two decades, industry in the towns and cities of theEuropean Union has been subjected to a significant restructuringprocess, which accompanied the transition from the Fordist systemof production to the so-called flexible system of production. Thistransformation, which has modified the logic behind the way inwhich enterprises operate, as well as the content and regulation ofindustrial work, location patterns and the industrial landscape,makes new demands on urban planning and economicdevelopment policies, which require, as a starting point, an accu-rate analysis of current trends1.
II.1.1.1 Urban industry: between crisis and revitalisation
The first and most visible signs of the changes in urban economiesin the early 1980s were heavy job losses in the manufacturing sec-tor and the apparent break in the cumulative growth process whichmost towns and cities had been enjoying since industrialisationbegan. The abandonment of former industrial sites and theproblems of reuse, caused by the industry drain from large areas— railroad and port areas, in particular — were the most obviousupshots of these trends2.
These developments were interpreted as the end of the era ofindustrial hegemony, as it ceased to be the main driving forcebehind economic growth and urban concentration.
Concepts such as deindustrialisation or post-industrialisa-tion were associated with counterurbanisation or deurban-isation3, which reflected the gravity of a crisis that, whiledeeper in old industrialised regions, such as many of theAtlantic arc regions, also affected other more recently industri-alised areas.
The prevailing debate on urban development at that time set thosewho considered it best to accept the new situation against thosewho advocated maintaining industrial activity. The former proposedthe redevelopment of old industrial sites in the city for other higher-demand uses (offices, homes, amenities), while the latter proposeda variety of protection strategies to prevent the gradual disappear-ance of industry (maintaining land-use zoning regulations and pre-venting rezoning, constructing mini-industrial estates for relocation,reusing large factories as business centres, etc.).
Recent industrial trends in towns and cities are, however, muchmore divergent than these considerations would seem to suggest.Alongside factors that have led certain sectors, enterprises andindustrial areas into crisis, there are also a number of favourableconditions that generate positive externalities, which continue toattract new investments and encourage enterprises located thereto remain.
The table below summarises some of the main arguments used tojustify both sides. The table and the case studies carried out by theproject partners reveal the following driving ideas:
• Without ignoring the importance of factors external to the town orcity, such as access to the European Union’s large economic hubs,connections to transport infrastructures and high-capacity telecom-munications and access to resources made available through pro-grammes financed by different authorities, the essence of recentdevelopments lies in local capacity for finding effective responsesto the new competitive environment. Today, key factors in generat-
-
STRAT
EGIE
SFO
RREV
ITALI
SIN
GIN
DU
STRIA
LSI
TES
INTH
EAT
LAN
TIC
AREA
NEE
DFO
RR
EVIT
ALI
SA
TIO
NST
RA
TEG
IES
INTH
EA
TLA
NTI
CA
RCA
REA
21
IIing dynamic competitive advantages seem to be the existence ofspecific resources that are socially responsible and capable of dis-tinguishing opportunities, the presence of local players with initia-tive and a capacity for consensus and systemic coordinationamong enterprises, between enterprises and economic and socialorganisations and among local and regional authorities.
• The characteristics of new urban industry differ from those ofurban industry as it was in the past, in accordance with the newtechnological and organisational context and the redistribution ofthe links of the business value chain among geographical areas,which tend to specialise.
From an overall viewpoint, this process of change can be interpret-ed as a transition from cities with an industrial economy tocities with a tertiary industrial economy4, in which the servicesector accounts for a high proportion of employment and GDP, andthe traditional sectoral divide blurs into insignificance in the face ofgrowing integration between industry and services, a developmentthat is equally significant, although less perceptible in available sta-tistics.
The below diagram summarises the ideas that embody what Veltz(2000) classifies as the new industrial world of the beginning ofthis century, as applied to the urban context. Although theseprocesses are not equally important in towns and cities of differentsizes and functions, the trends described above are increas-ingly evident in smaller towns, such as some of thoseinvolved in the REVITA project.
There may now be a need for some of these processes to takeplace, which are causing a complete metamorphosis of urbanindustry, as a basis for the implementation of new industrial revitali-sation policies.
II.1.1.2 Sectoral specialisation and functional centrality
The potential for mobility provided by new technologies, togetherwith the progressive opening-up and expansion of markets, hasreinforced the spatial division of work within an increasingly inte-grated European urban system. This leads to an increase inindustrial specialisation of geographical areas based on thecompetitive advantages that each one can provide for thedevelopment of different types of activity.
In towns and cities, the size and complexity of the consumer mar-ket, together with the concentration of quality infrastructures andservices, resulted in significant industrial diversification. This diversi-fication continues to be a productive feature and competitive factorcommon to almost all these areas, particularly in the case of har-bour towns and cities.
However, trends observed over the last two decades have led to thegradual disappearance of sectors intensive in material andlabour inputs and sectors that generate technology risks, whichnow locate in more favourable areas. However, establishmentsbelonging to these branches of industry remain as the legacy of apast that withstands the forces of change and poses a challenge forindustrial urban planning and current development policies.
On the other hand, an upward trend can be observed in the pres-ence of higher technology sectors, with a high proportion ofskilled workers, low storage requirements for raw materials or fin-ished products, a high internal and external service component,intensive land use and the generation of high added value. Thisallows for forms of intensive growth that are well adapted to loca-tion in dense urban areas.
4 A concept implicit in works by Cohen and Zysman (1987) and Gershuny and Miles (1983) and developed by Daniels and Bryson (2002).
• Good access to transport and telecommunication infrastruc-tures, which attracts manufacturing, management, logistics,distribution and sales facilities and customer services.
• Accumulation of specific resources; skilled labour, knowledge-linked institutions, broad supply of business services, supply ofbusiness space and premises.
• Broad and diversified consumer and labour markets;economies of scale.
• Local private and public players with the capacity to generateinitiatives, disseminate information and create an innovativebusiness environment to attract enterprise innovation and man-agement facilities.
• Institutional and inter-enterprise cooperation network density.
FACTORS DRIVING INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN TOWNS AND CITIES
• Agglomeration costs. Urban development and environmentalrestrictions.
• Dereliction of industrial sites and competition for mature sec-tors, intensive in natural resources and labour.
• Potential diffusion of ICT and improvement of transport net-works; reduction of friction costs and spatial segmentation ofactivities based on comparative advantages.
• Delocation strategies in mature sectors, with increasing costcompetition; seek reduction by relocating all or part of theiractivity.
REASONS FOR THE CRISIS OF URBAN INDUSTRY
-
22
In terms of sites where productive activities are carried out, busi-ness parks and science and technology parks grew in impor-tance as spaces for unitary development with a high level of urbanplanning, environmental and infrastructure quality, which are partic-ularly well suited as sites for innovative enterprises, laboratories,research facilities and training centres. The search for synergiesamong research, technological development, training andproduction activities was the argument used to justify creatingsuch sites in the suburban environment of many towns and cities.Urban marketing strategies also sought to turn some of theminto technopolis specially adapted to such activities, by dint of theirhuman resources, their business base or the initiative shown bylocal players, although the results differed greatly from one place toanother.
However, it cannot be asserted that there is a direct correlationbetween the specialisation of a town or city in advanced sectorsand better socio-economic performance, which is sometimeslinked to certain traditional industrial sectors that have shown ahigh capacity for regeneration. Furthermore, it is difficult to trans-form the industrial structure of a city in the short term. Policiesgeared exclusively to replacing certain sectors with others or pro-moting high-tech industries that have no links to the urban environ-ment where they operate do not appear to have been as successfulas expected and have led to the emergence of technology enclaveswith weak multiplying effects.
It therefore seems evident that, at the present time, the moredynamic towns and cities increase their specialisation inboth industrial and service knowledge-intensive sectorsand the presence of enterprises that engage in innovatingprocesses, products, management and market access, whateverthe branch of activity they operate in. With regard to the conditionsinfluencing the establishment of innovative milieux, or the so-calledlearning cities, described above, the organisation of enterprises andtheir relationship with the environment they operate in are moreimportant considerations than the branch of activity they belong to,when it comes to determining what type of activity is most likely toimprove the competitiveness of big cities5.
II.1.1.3 Business segmentation, industrial tertiarisation andbusiness clusters
An essential feature of the recent evolution of urban economies istheir growing tertiarisation, whereby the service sector steadilyincreases its share in production and employment at the expense ofindustry. However, the concept of post-industrial city, whichemphasises the inevitable decline and eventual disappearance ofindustrial uses in increasingly dematerialised economies, wasquestioned by neo-industrial theses, which associate a signifi-cant part of inter-sectoral shifts to the new organisation of the sys-tem of production.
INDUSTRIAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN URBAN AREAS:THE TRANSITION TOWARDS TERTIARY INDUSTRIAL ECONOMIES
...To cities with tertiary industrialeconomies
From cities with industrial economies...
• Industrial tertiarisation and industry-services continuum
• Productive segmentation and networkeconomy (networkingenterprises/clusters)
• Opening-up of markets andhierarchisation/functional specialisationof sites
• Learning economies and innovationstrategies (learning cities)
• Concentration of manufacturing jobsand activities
• Productive integration and single-plantcompanies
• business and sectoral diversification• Spatial polarisation in urban sectors and
along axes
SPATIALDIFFUSION
PROCESSES
From metropolisto the rest of the
urban system
Industrial planning and land-usestrategies
Industrial urban development
• Redevelopment of industrial estates andareas
• Diversification of land/property supply• Use integration and environmental
quality• Enterprise attraction and start-up
policies • Innovation and environment creation
efforts
• Land-use vs. development policies • Land-use zoning vs. integration • Quantitative vs. qualitative land supply• Development of estates vs.
diversification
From Europeancentral
to peripheral regions and
countries
-
STRAT
EGIE
SFO
RREV
ITALI
SIN
GIN
DU
STRIA
LSI
TES
INTH
EAT
LAN
TIC
AREA
NEE
DFO
RR
EVIT
ALI
SA
TIO
NST
RA
TEG
IES
INTH
EA
TLA
NTI
CA
RCA
REA
23
IIa) This restructuring process is based on the extension of the
business value chain, as a result of the growing importance oftasks performed before and after manufacturing. Such supportservices can enhance product quality, differentiation and finalvalue and improve the competitiveness of enterprises, whichmeans that the top companies in each sector make greater useof such services. When an enterprise maintains such tasks andjobs as part of its business activity, it is said to have undergoneindustrial tertiarisation, as a high proportion of its workers, thepremises it occupies and the value it generates are unrelated tothe direct production of the goods that determine which sectorit belongs to. Many industrial companies outsource such servic-es to specialised enterprises, which are often located nearby.They operate in the tertiary sector, but are suppliers for industri-al enterprises.
b) In addition to this new form of organisation, there is also a grow-ing number of multi-plant enterprises, which have morethan one facility and spatially separate governance and man-agement activity from manufacturing, distribution and cus-tomer service facilities, etc., in order to benefit from the compar-ative advantages offered by different geographical locations.The direct consequence of this is that the headquarters of manyindustrial companies and many of their pre- and post-manufac-turing services are concentrated in large cities. The growing ter-tiarisation of urban economies, which is not therefore aninevitable counterpoint to deindustrialisation, is directly reflect-ed in recent urban labour market trends and the characteristicsof new industrial sites.
Another trend associated with business segmentation is theincrease in relations among both industrial and service enterpris-es, permitting full integration in a networking site and economy onan intra-urban scale and in relation to external environments.
Physical, organisational and functional proximity, which reducesthe cost of transactions between enterprises, and the newdemands of the flexible systems of production, which favour theoutsourcing of tasks that are not part of the core business, consti-tute the basis of this process. As highlighted in recent years by the-ories on innovation and the construction of innovative milieux,these business networks — often accompanied by social and insti-tutional support networks — are key factors in the capacity of geo-graphical areas to generate innovation and win dynamic competi-tive advantages6.
However, the construction of tangible and intangible relation-ship networks does not involve all the industrial sectors in the city,but becomes particularly accentuated in certain activities, generallythe most innovative sectors and those which have demonstrated agreater capacity to break into external markets.
In some cases, networks are dominated by large companies, whichmaintain vertical relations with an array of dependent small andmedium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as suppliers of goods and/orservices, which usually involve some degree of knowledge transfer.In others, the cluster relations are horizontal between SMEs, whichachieve external economies that would not be possible if they wereto operate in an isolated manner. The diffusion of information andknowledge, which generates collective learning processes,together with opportunities to undertake joint innovation-relatedprojects, makes these networks a key factor in the current dynamicdevelopment of certain cities.
II.1.1.4 Changes in industrial employment skill require-ments and growing job insecurity
These organisational transformations in industrial enterprises haveled to changes in the internal composition of employment, becausethe types of jobs created do not match those destroyed. The effectsof these changes are particularly noticeable in enterprises of a cer-tain size operating in high technology sectors and in cities wherethe transition is at a more advanced stage.
First of all, the number of workers employed in intangible comple-mentary services rises at the expense of the stratum of workersengaged in the direct production of goods. There is a signifi-cant reduction in skilled workers with a trade, who traditionallyenjoyed more stable, regulated employment, especially in largeport companies. Although there has also been a fall in the numberof low or unskilled workers, they are still required for menial jobs.The progressive automation of many tasks that no longer requirespecialists and the disappearance of middle management positionsas a result of new forms of flexible organisation, which tend to flat-ten the hierarchical pyramids characterising the business structure,are at the root of a trend that highlights the internal dual nature ofindustrial employment and significantly reduces its total volume.
At the same time, the proportion of white collar jobs hasincreased in many industrial companies, to the point where it isestimated that they account for a majority share of workers in largecities. In addition to the increase in executives and managers, there hasalso been a rise in the proportion of highly qualified technicians andprofessionals employed in many types of work (computer services,technological development and design, quality control, procurement,marketing, human resources, etc.), sales representatives and profes-sionals of all kinds who are in direct contact with the customer.
The result is a labour structure that is very different from the onethat existed just a few decades ago. In addition to the higher skilllevel of workers, industry now features much more diversified typesof occupations and professions. Another trend that can be
5 Works such as those by Crevoisier and Camagni (2000), Benko and Lipietz (2000), OECD (2001), Lopes (2001) and Méndez and Sánchez Moral (2004) put forward
arguments along these lines, which Edquist (1997) and Morgan (1997) applied to the identification of the regional innovation system or learning region.
6 Numerous references can be found both in general works, such as those by Porter (1990) and Castells (1997), and in other more specific works on proximity dynam-
ics (Gilly and Torre, 2000) or local networks (Subirats, 2002).
-
24
observed is an increase in different forms of job insecurity, which isparticularly acute in the case of new jobs for young people with amedium to low level of qualifications and jobs in small enterprises.Temporary and part-time contracts, contracts for the performanceof specific works and the many forms of subcontracting have notreached the same volume in industry as in certain service activities.However, the effects of progressive deregulation inherent in theflexible specialisation model are now being felt, coupled with thefact that the organisation of this more heterogeneous workforce isbreaking down, without the union culture that characterised portand industry workforces.
II.1.2 Relocation processes in urban industry
II.1.2.1 The predominance of deconcentration trends
The general trend in all metropolitan agglomerations is a clearmove towards the spatial deconcentration of industry. In gen-eral, these processes began some time ago, but have gatheredmomentum in recent years. Metropolitan areas and even periurbanor rural-urban areas with rather vague limits, constituting the city’souter periphery, have increased their share at the expense of centralcity areas.
The result is an intensification of intra-metropolitan businessmobility, with a general shift from the centre to the peripheralareas and polarisation around high-capacity transport networksand locations with an abundant and diversified supply of land andproperty.
The factors influencing deconcentration can also be observed, withslight differences, in the Atlantic arc towns and cities. There are fac-tors that drive industry out of city centres, such as high start-up costs (land, property, taxation), restrictions on the types of activi-ty that can be carried out (environmental regulations, limitations on
expansion) and mobility restrictions (traffic problems, limitations onheavy goods traffic, parking problems), coupled with the declineand low quality of existing manufacturing sites, which are not up tothe standards required by today’s enterprises.
There are also factors that attract industry to suburban and peri-urban areas, including lower costs and an increasing supply of sitesin less populated areas, with good access roads and few restrictionson traffic and parking.
Deconcentration does not usually give rise to industrial sprawl, butto the clustering of enterprises around radial or orbital roads,communication network hubs or particularly importantbusiness areas, promoted by public or private initiative. This fos-ters an evolution towards polycentric metropolitan models, whichare better developed in places where there used to be significantsecondary industrial hubs and which complement the outwardmove from the central city areas.
The current demands for flexibility and greater business mobility byenterprises, which relocate their facilities if market conditions or theirown internal organisation change (openings, closures, relocation,change of functions at the same location), enhance the importanceof the reversibility factor. In cases where enterprises seek to beless tied to the location, consideration is given to factors that influ-ence the decision to set up in a certain area or not, such as the sup-ply of rented premises or the purchase of land or property in areaswhere their value is assured if they need to be resold at a later date.
In the case of SMEs and micro-enterprises, where uncertainty aboutmedium-term prospects and financial limitations prevent themfrom making significant initial investments in fixed assets, the sup-ply of rented property, leasing and other systems that reduce this ini-tial risk are also important considerations.
In addition to the factors of attraction described above, anotherimportant factor in the development of certain hubs of activity is thepresence of local players with initiative to actively promotetheir geographical area and influence location decisions. Theassessment of local resources — inherited business density, environ-mental quality associated with low-density areas, human resources,the supply of quality services available in the area, the innovative cli-mate — and the ability to identify emerging business demands inthe area are often not very tangible aspects, but ones that havebecome increasingly important in decision-making in recent years.
II.1.2.2 Diversification of industrial sites in big cities,according to functions and urban sectors
However, attributing current spatial restructuring trends in industryto the process of deconcentration or selective relocation gives toolinear a vision of a situation that is much more complex and encom-passes a host of industrial trends:
1) The first aspect to note is the growing diversity of establish-ments belonging to industrial companies found today inbig cities, which can be grouped into five broad categories: fac-tories and workshops (direct production); offices belonging to
• Good access and connections within the agglomerationand outside it. This is especially true in the case ofenterprises located in the proximity of airports, whichfacilitates the transportation of goods and, above all, themobility of executives and technicians, a particularlyimportant consideration in the case of transnational firms.
• Suitability of the location in terms of environmentalquality, the availability of business services, residential areaswith adequate amenities, etc. This is particularly importantin the case of company headquarters and, in general, cleanindustries and industrial offices, which are reluctant tolocate at old, densely occupied manufacturing sites, whichoften have an unfavourable image.
• Supply of land and/or business premises with attractiveprices, conditions of payment and functional characteristics(size, quality, diversity, modular design, etc.) suited todemands.
ATTRACTIONS OF LOCATINGIN METROPOLITAN SUB-CENTRES
-
industrial companies (executive, management and administra-tion tasks); laboratories and R&D facilities (associated with fac-tories or offices but at a separate location); showrooms andsales premises (buildings which are open and visible and easilyaccessible by potential clients); and warehouses and logisticsfacilities (for the classification of raw materials and semi-fin-ished products and/or final distribution).
The frequent lack of statistics to distinguish productive functionsfrom other functions, which are more abstract or intangible, butwhich are increasingly necessary to increase the competitive-ness of a business, makes it difficult to conduct an individualisedanalysis of the spatial patterns characteristic of those five typesof work places. In spite of this lack of information, which rules outa comparative analysis, studies conducted in different Europeancities make it possible to define certain trends:
1a) In all cases, the central areas of big cities have shown a negative bal-ance in the openings and closures of industrial establishments andjobs in industry for several decades now, in contrast with muchmore favourable service activity trends, as reflected in location rentassociated with centrality. It could be concluded that industry willmove out of central districts completely in the near future.
However, in certain parts of these central city areas — often for-mer rail or port areas or locations with poor urban planning andenvironmental quality, which are in decline — small workshopsand factories and even micro-enterprises remain, resisting urbanredevelopment processes. They usually occupy old propertiesand form small manufacturing enclaves in a residential and serv-ice environment. Growing difficulties caused by urban develop-ment regulations, poor environmental and infrastructure qualityand limitations on heavy goods traffic are offset by proximity tocustomers, who are still largely located inside the city.
1b) A more important phenomenon today is the presence of indus-trial offices belonging to enterprises operating in the industrialsector, in which manufacturing activities are negligible or non-existent, but which perform a wide variety of value-added serv-ices (management, customer service, RDI, etc.). In some casesthe company’s former premises are renovated and adapted asoffice space or old factories are torn down and replaced withmulti-storey buildings housing various companies or the head-quarters of a single firm.
1c) An intermediate model is that of multi-storey industrial build-ings or hotels, in which small premises are leased or sold,while maintaining a certain amount of manufacturing activity,discernible in certain features of the building (ramps or elevatorsfor moving loads, power infrastructures and waste disposal). Inaddition to changing the urban landscape, it also substantiallyalters the volume, occupation and skill level of labour, flows ofgoods, people, capital and information between these establish-ments and their environment and environmental impact.
2) A second type of area are the declining or redeveloped tra-ditional industrial areas, identified in many Atlantic arctowns and cities with port areas, where reuse for different pur-poses has been the predominant approach for some time.Many of the heavier industries, which had a higher environ-mental impact and which moved greater volumes of cargo,were established in and around the port and rail areas asbreak bulk points, alongside a large number of dependententerprises and a variety of complementary facilities. Thefirst factor of change was the decline of many of these sec-tors, which began almost three decades ago, causing enter-prises to close down or relocate to lower-cost areas, espe-cially in the case of more normal activities and those requir-ing large areas of land for their operations. The prospect of
STRAT
EGIE
SFO
RREV
ITALI
SIN
GIN
DU
STRIA
LSI
TES
INTH
EAT
LAN
TIC
AREA
NEE
DFO
RR
EVIT
ALI
SA
TIO
NST
RA
TEG
IES
INTH
EA
TLA
NTI
CA
RCA
REA
25
II
• Industrial parks, where most of the plots are occupied by enterprises engaged in manufacturing. The land and buildings are soldor rented, and the building density is kept low, ensuring open spaces, easy access to motorways, parking areas, etc.
• Business parks, which mainly house high-rise office buildings used by both service and industrial enterprises, which carry outtheir pre- and post-manufacturing tasks there. Status and accessibility are key requirements, which means that they arepreferentially located in areas that are well-connected to business centres and airports, with a certain level of environmentalquality and an attractive image for customers.
• Mixed-use parks, which have proliferated in recent years as a result of the industry-services continuum, They are designed tohouse a combination of activities compatible with clean industry, permitting a more diversified use of space and creating a hubof activity combining production, leisure and consumption as complementary elements.
• Mini-industrial estates, containing small terraced premises for SMEs and micro-enterprises, which find here facilities suited totheir means: small premises, low fixed-capital investment, unowned access roads, etc. Disadvantages include lower-qualitylandscaping urban planning and sometimes problems with access, infrastructures, facilities, parking and waste management.
• Technology parks or technopoles, which house research and innovation facilities and enterprises, which apply the resultingknowledge to production. Science parks differ in that they do not include this last function, but focus their activity on RDI andare often connected with nearby universities. There is a complementary relationship between the places of work of largecompanies and technology institutes and multi-use buildings for SMEs, located alongside enterprise incubators andcomplementary service providers. They are generally well planned and landscaped, with good amenities, environmental qualityand accessibility.
MOST FREQUENT TYPES OF DEVELOPMENTS
-
26
obtaining significant capital gains by selling land in areaswhere urban planning regulations established no restric-tions on changing land use led to land-use rezoning.Deindustrialisation intensified further when such areasbecame part of large-scale urban redevelopment projectsbacked by heavy public investment.
The variety of approaches adopted resulted in the simplereplacement of industrial uses with residential uses, leadingto increased density, the renovation and maintenance ofindustrial areas or redevelopment as non-manufacturingsites (offices, commercial areas, public services, amenities,etc.). The strategies applied by the various public and privateplayers operating in the cities have been particularly intensein these port and rail areas in recent years, with significantlydivergent objectives and results.
3) Industrial sites in the peripheral and metropolitanareas of cities evolve in a very different way from thatdescribed above. For decades, they have been the areaszoned for industrial use and the location of the majority ofindustrial enterprises. This hegemony tends to be reinforcedwith the passing of time, as these are the areas where newdevelopments can be undertaken, because they are wheremost of the vacant and undeveloped land is located. It isworth mentioning two of the many types of processes:
3a) One widespread trend is the development of new busi-ness areas or sites, which depart from the conventionalmodel of large industrial estates, zoned and used for a solepurpose. They have diversified internal characteristics andtypes to better respond to the complexity of current urbaneconomies and new business demands. Although the namesof such areas or sites vary greatly from one country to anotherand there is no generally accepted official classification, themost common types of developments undertaken in recentyears can be classed as industrial parks, business parks,mixed-use parks, mini-industrial estates and technology parks.
3b) However, in addition to developing new sites, cities alsoneed to redevelop many of their old industrial sites, whichsuffer problems of obsolescence, low-quality infrastruc-tures, poor amenities and facilities, high density and theinability of vacant and available plots to meet today’sdemands. Industrial redevelopment programmes aretherefore now a common element of urban planning,although the level of public involvement and the degree towhich they are subject to market mechanisms varies fromone city to another.
All the aspects referred to above can be observed in recent develop-ments in Atlantic arc towns and cities. Their industrial pasts haveleft them a production structure with specific characteristics thatneed to be taken into consideration, as they still influence many ofthe strategies currently being implemented, which will be dis-cussed below.
II.2 The Atlantic arc and its industry in the Communitycontext
II.2.1 Introduction
As mentioned above, in order to analyse evolution patterns forindustrial sites and activity in the Atlantic arc towns and cities, theirinherited industrial features, sectoral specialisation and capacity toinnovate must be taken into account.
However, there are no geographically disaggregated statistics avail-able to make such an analysis on this scale, making it necessary touse regional data. While it is true that regional statistics do not pro-vide precise information on what is happening in towns and cities,they are fairly useful if it is taken into account that most industry isconcentrated in urban areas. The Atlantic arc towns and cities can be grouped, in terms ofindustrial considerations, into four main types by urban specialisa-tion and function1:
• Improvement in the quality of the physical space, which is no longer conceived as a second-rate urban planning product, butrather as a business asset that can promote competitive advantages, an increase in open or green areas, better waste controland management, surveillance and security services and improved facilities and amenities (access, roadways, parking,connections to telecommunications networks, etc.).
• A more diversified supply, appreciated in the size of plots and buildings (from turnkey factories to multi-storey industrialbuildings, large-scale logistics warehouses and small terraced premises, with top-floor offices, coupled with similarly diversifiedfacilities and forms of occupancy (sale, rent, leasing, etc.).
• Greater integration and complementariness of industrial and service uses, which are often fully compatible, as the mostpolluting industries have moved out of city areas. This makes it difficult to identify industrial sites, as zoning criteria loseimportance for mixed-use sites.
• More flexible management, allowing sites to adapt to a rapidly changing economic environment, which requires moreadaptable town planning regulations characteristic of what is known as post-modern urban planning, with more flexible rules onland-use rezoning, land parcelling, building levels, etc. than in the past.
GENERAL CRITERIA FOR COMPREHENSIVE REDEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL SITES
-
STRAT
EGIE
SFO
RREV
ITALI
SIN
GIN
DU
STRIA
LSI
TES
INTH
EAT
LAN
TIC
AREA
NEE
DFO
RR
EVIT
ALI
SA
TIO
NST
RA
TEG
IES
INTH
EA
TLA
NTI
CA
RCA
REA
27
II• those that developed in response to the exploitation of mining
resources;• those that, from the Industrial Revolution onwards, pioneered the
development of the most dynamic sectors at that time: iron andsteel, manufacture of machinery, etc.;
• those that developed in response to port activity;• those characterised by weak productive activity growth.
It should be taken into account that the industrial restructuringprocesses initiated in the 1970s, which were closely associ-ated with the use of new technologies, market globalisation andthe adoption of alternative forms of business organisation toadapt to new production conditions, were particularly com-plex in the geographical areas in which industrialisationwas more intense and occurred earlier, especially thosewhere industrial growth was based on the existence of portsand/or certain natural resources and those with a high level ofspecialisation in mature sectors. Much of the industry in theAtlantic arc towns and cities therefore underwent signifi-cant restructuring.
II.2.2 Inherited industrial features
The 1970s
Between 1974 and 1978, value added and employment in theindustrial sector in what was then known as the EuropeanCommunity, formed mainly by countries that had pioneered indus-trial development, registered negative growth of -2.2% and -5.7%,respectively. The industrial crisis deepened further between 1979and 1984, when value added fell by 3.92% and employment by11.1% (Eurostat).
Trends varied from one area to another within the EuropeanCommunity, and the crisis was much more evident in coal-produc-ing regions, affected by the depletion of coal reserves, competitionfrom hydrocarbons and a reduction in transport costs which madeimports cheaper. As a result, production fell from 465 milliontonnes in 1952 to just 193 million four decades later. At the sametime, employment fell drastically from 2 million to just over260,000 in the same period. A similar trend was observed inregions specialising in the production of ordinary steel, whichfell from 156 million tonnes in 1974 to 138 in 1991, with the lossof almost half a million jobs. Shipbuilding in the EC, which account-ed for 64% of world production in 1950, fell to 23% in 1991,together with a drop from 209,000 jobs in 1975 to 78,000 in1991. The textile industry registered job losses of 1.5 million, as theresult of a 9% annual increase in imports (Caravaca-Méndez,1995).
Many of the geographical areas most affected by this struc-tural crisis in industry are located in the Atlantic arc area.The regions hardest hit by the crisis include not only those in thenorth and west of England, the birthplace of the Industrial
Revolution, but also those in the Scottish lowlands, the north ofFrance and Spain’s Cantabrian coast. As mentioned above, theirspecialisation in mature sectors, which are classified as low-demand and low-technology sectors and which find it hardestto compete in the emerging production logic, forced them to under-take significant restructuring of their production base. Theseprocesses were very demanding and costly and led not only to areduction in output and employment in many enterprises, but alsothe closure of those incapable of maintaining a minimum level ofcompetitiveness.
As a result of these developments, a sharp decline was observed inareas already affected by significant negative externalities(inadequate technical infrastructures, environmental pollution,degraded industrial landscapes, etc.), coupled with derelict orunderused facilities and an industrial drain from certainurban areas. Furthermore, social unrest grew in these areas, as aresult of soaring unemployment, industrial disputes and increasedmigratory outflows, which reduced comparative advantages evenfurther.
From the 1980s to the present day
Despite the generally pessimistic outlook for these regions, in the1980s the first examples of revitalisation projects were seen, high-lighting regional differences in dealing with these problems andtheir capacity to adapt to the new socio-economic environment.
As a counterpoint to the processes described above, otherless industrialised regions also located in the Atlantic arcarea began to see favourable industrial trends, after thefirst few years of widespread economic crisis had passed.Between 1980 and 1990, industrial production grew by 84% inIreland and 59% in Portugal, driven mainly by the installation ofNorth American multinationals in the first case and the relocation ofactivities requiring cheap labour in the second (Caravaca, I. andMéndez, R. 1995, 169).
At present, industrial employment accounts for 28.8% of thetotal in the European Union, and production structures vary greatlyfrom one region to another. As can be seen in the table and mapbelow, industrial employment generally accounts for a small-er proportion of the total in the Atlantic arc regions, with veryfew included in the higher bracket.
Among the REVITA partners, only the regions of Lisbon, Asturiasand Oporto register values exceeding the EU average. In the case ofOporto, it is very much higher.
It can therefore be seen that while adjustment and restructuringprocesses particularly affected the regions where industri-alisation occurred earliest, in most cases they still have ahigher proportion of industrial employment in their econom-ic structures. On the other hand, it is surprising that the majority of
1 Community Initiative Programme (CIP) Interreg III B Atlantic Area, page 29.
-
28
regions in the United Kingdom and France register values below theEU average. However, it should be taken into account that a simpleanalysis of the more conventional parameters does not accuratelyreflect the true competitive capacity of industry.
II.2.3 Sectoral specialisation of regions
The five maps below provide information to supplement the analy-sis, showing the regional distribution of employment rates inthe five most important branches of industry in the areaunder study: textiles and clothing, basic metals, machinery andequipment, electrical machinery and equipment and transportequipment.
Textiles and clothing account for a significant share of industry in thenorth and centre of Portugal, Galicia and Northern Ireland, and in mostcases it is an activity that has developed recently in these areas. Basicmetal industries are predominant in the West Midlands and Wales in theUnited Kingdom and in the regions on Spain’s Cantabrian coast. Themachinery and equipment industries are also important in the UK in theWest Midlands and part of the South West, while in Spain they are impor-tant in the Basque Country and Navarre. It should not be forgotten thatthese two sectors underwent major restructuring processes and thatthey have succeeded, at least partly, in adapting to new production logics.
The employment rates in electrical machinery and equipmentindustries are higher in Ireland, Spain (Basque Country,
Source: Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, February 2004.
Source: Third Report on Economic and Social Cohesion, 2004
REVITA cities NUTS II regions Employment in industry (% total) 2002
Seville Andalusia 25.3Avilés Asturias 31.4Gijón Asturias 31.4Bordeaux Technowest Aquitaine 22.5Brest Bretagne 26.8Lisbon Lisbon and Vale do Tajo 29.1Primus (Oporto) North 43.3Dublin Southern and Eastern 26.6Cardiff Wales 26.2EU-15 28.2EU-25 28.8
Industrial employment as a percentage of total employment, 2002
< 22.7322.73 – 26.4926.49 – 30.5830.58 – 33.85>= 33.85No data available
%age of total employment
Industry
-
STRAT
EGIE
SFO
RREV
ITALI
SIN
GIN
DU
STRIA
LSI
TES
INTH
EAT
LAN
TIC
AREA
NEE
DFO
RR
EVIT
ALI
SA
TIO
NST
RA
TEG
IES
INTH
EA
TLA
NTI
CA
RCA
REA
29
II
Source: Employment in the market economy in the European Union.An analysis based on the structural business statistics.
Employment rate in textiles and clothing industry, 2001 Employment rate in basic metal industries, 2001Employment rate in textiles and clothing industry, 2001
0-44-99-16
16-2828+No data available
Employment per 1,000 population of working age0-22-44-7
7-1212+No data available
Employment per 1,000 population of working age
Source: Employment in the market economy in the European Union.An analysis based on the structural business statistics.
Employment rate in the machinery and equipmentindustries, 2001
Employment rate in the electrical machinery andequipment industries,
0-66-1313-22
22-3838+No data available
Employment per 1,000 population of working age
Employment rate in the electrical machinery andequipment industries,
0-33-55-10
10-1818+No data available
Employment per 1,000 population of working age
-
30
Navarre and Cantabria) and in many Atlantic arc regions in theUnited Kingdom and France. The transport equipment indus-tries are mainly located in the Midlands and South West ofEngland and in Navarre in Spain. Although the employmentrate values shown on this map would seem to indicate other-wise, the shipbuilding industry is currently facing seri-ous problems in some Atlantic arc towns and cities, asthe sector is once again undergoing a restructuring process.This is the case, for example, of Vigo, Seville and Cadiz.
II.2.4 Capacity for innovation
In the current context, in which innovation constitutes a lead-ing factor in the development not only of business, but also ofthe geographical area, a sectoral analysis taking into accountthe proportion of total employment created by indus-tries classified as high and medium-high technologysectors is much more revealing (Regions Statistical Yearbook,2003).
The map below shows the high concentration of this type ofemployment in Europe’s central regions, large gaps in manyAtlantic arc regions and a clear north-south divide in thisarea. In fact, none of the Spanish and Portuguese regions tak-
ing part in REVITA register a rate of more than 5.5%. Only theregions of Cardiff, Dublin and Bretagne (Brest) have higherrates. This clearly reflects the lower competitive capacityand peripheral character of the Atlantic arc regions.
This geographically concentrated trend is even stronger ifpatent applications are considered. This information is par-ticularly enlightening, as it provides an insight not into wherenew technologies are used, but into where the most advancedinnovation is done. The map below is very revealing, since itshows the total number of patent applications and the patent-to-inhabitant ratio. It shows that the Atlantic arc regions areweaker in this respect than those located in the central part ofEurope and that, in the area under study, there are signifi-cant gaps, particularly in the Atlantic regions of Spainand Portugal.
II.2.5 Conclusions
It can be concluded that the disparities between regions withregard to industrial performance highlight the need for con-siderable efforts to revitalise and develop the industrialsector, if the gap between many of the Atlantic arc areas andthe more competitive regions of Europe is to be narrowed.
Source: Employment in the market economy in the European Union.An analysis based on the structural business statistics.
Employment rate in transport equipment industries, 2001
0-55-1111-19
19-3232+No data available
Employment per 1,000 population of working ageSource: Regions Statistical Yearbook 2003.
Employment in high and medium-high technologymanufacturing as a percentage of total employment, 2001
>117.5-115.5-7.5>=5.5Data not available
Employment in high and medium-hightechnology manufacturing as a per-centage of total employment, 2001
-
STRAT
EGIE
S FO
R R
EVIT
ALI
SIN
G I
ND
UST
RIA
L SI
TES
IN T
HE
ATLA
NTI
C A
REA
NEE
D F
OR
REV
ITA
LIS
ATI
ON
STR
ATE
GIE
S IN
TH
E A
TLA
NTI
C A
RC A
REA
31
II
As indicated in the CIP assessment of the Atlantic area, someareas have already confirmed their European vocation based onspecialised activities, such as electronics in Ireland and aviation inthe South of France. In practice, it is a question of reinforcinglocalised systems of production, or clusters, by forgingstrong public-private partnerships and implementing technologyincentive strategies for enterprises to create new competitive-ness factors.
II.3 Atlantic cooperation in industry
II.3.1 Cooperation experiences in the Atlantic arc area
The REVITA project is part of a long-standing tradition of coop-eration among the regions and cities located in what isknown as the Atlantic arc or Atlantic area, which involves sev-eral transnational institutional networks that have been developedover the last two decades: the Atlantic Arc Commission, which ispart of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), theConference of Atlantic Arc Cities, the network of Chambers ofAgriculture (AC3A-AGATE), the Atlantic Transnational Network ofeconomic and social partners, network of universities, etc.
These institutional networks and organisations focus efforts in theirrespective areas of influence on assessing specific characteristics of
the Atlantic arc area and enhancing its importance in the EU. Someof these organisations make an active contribution to the debate onthe future of regional policies (2007-2013) and, in this context, onthe characteristics and management of European funds for territori-al cooperation, of which the Interreg Community Initiative is themost outstanding component.
Interreg has been promoting relations and the developmentof common projects among public and private stakeholdersall over the EU for over a decade. Up to January 2005, in theAtlantic arc area alone, Interreg III B has promoted 75 projectsinvolving more than 500 different partners from the five eligiblecountries. Environmental development has been the most success-ful theme with project developers, with 42% of the programmebudget being spent on projects addressing this area.
II.3.2 Innovative REVITA approach
Cooperation in the Atlantic arc area and, in particular, within theframework of Interreg, to meet the challenges facing the industrialsector was a relatively unexplored area until REVITA was set inmotion. There have only been two other industrial revitalisa-tion projects, which were implemented in other areasinvolved in the Interreg cooperation programme:Revitalisation of Harbour Towns and Cities in the North Sea Regionand REVIT-Towards more effective and sustainable brownfield revi-talisation policies in North West Europe.
The first project was implemented in the North Sea cooperationarea and was co-financed by Interreg II C in the previous pro-gramme period (1994-1999). Six European partners representingseven harbour towns, Dundee City, Aberdeenshire (Peterhead andFraserburgh) and Angus Council in Scotland; Nordenham andBrake in Germany; and the province of Groningen and the city ofDelfzijl in the Netherlands, joined forces in 1999 to consider possi-ble revitalisation strategies for harbour towns.
These cooperation efforts gave rise to various conferences andmeetings of experts, who exchanged experiences and points ofview. Medium-term and long-term scenarios were constructed onthe basis of the assessments made of each city to determine thethreats and opportunities influencing their development.
Patent applications, total and per million inhabitants, 2001
>150
50-150
20-50
0-20
0
No data available
Per million inhabitants
1000400200
50
Total number of applications
Provisional figuresF. UKM1. UKM2. UKM3. UKM4: estimated
Patent applications in high technology fieldsTotal and per million inhabitants
2000- NUTS 2
Source: Eurostat Yearbook 2003.
-
32
The activities finally led to the preparation of a common strategicframework comprising specific programmes related to therevitalisation of harbour towns and cities.
The REVIT project, co-financed by Interreg III B, was managed by aconsortium of six cities in No