Attract and connect: The 22@Barcelona innovation district and the internationalisation of Barcelona business

Nick Leon
Professor, Director - Design London, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom

PP: 235 - 246

Abstract

Innovation is frequently cited as the battleground of international competitiveness in the 21^st century and cities are increasingly viewed as the cauldrons of innovation, enriching not only their surrounding regions but their nations as a whole.

Across the globe massive renewal is taking place in our cities, fundamental shifts in the nature of work and the workplaces they host, and transformation of their output as well as their consumption. Cities compete with another to attract not only firms and direct foreign investment, but also skilled knowledge workers to develop their social capital and capacity for innovation. But is the attraction of top talent the crucial ingredient?

In this study we examine the transformation of Barcelona and its historic cotton district to become an international hub of innovation.

Keywords

creative classes, urban regeneration, local development

Article Text

Barcelona is on a quest to transform its industries and become a knowledge-intensive city. It is one of the world's most attractive cities as measured by European City Monitor in 2006 where it rated as number 1 in Europe for quality of life for employees and number 5 in Europe as city for businesses to potentially relocate to. Each year Barcelona attracts a growing resident international community, not only there for business or holiday but to set up home, find employment or start a business. Fifteen per cent of the population is from outside Spain (Ajuntament de Barcelona 2007).

Barcelona is an increasingly popular destination for the ‘creative classes' (defined as highly educated professionals and other ‘creative' people), with almost 55% of members of the international community from the European Union 15 and the USA and Canada now living there educated beyond the age of 18. This is more than double the proportion of the local population so educated (22.6%) (Ajuntament de Barcelona 2007). The city is now finding, however, that attracting this talented international community is not enough on its own to stimulate its transformation to the knowledge-intensive city. Indeed, employment data is showing growth in the proportion of lower value add jobs, fuelled by growth in the construction sector and leisure services, rather than the knowledge-intensive sectors (IDESCAT 2006). For members of this international community to become a significant actors in helping transform the knowledge intensity of the city, Barcelona authorities are increasingly recognising the need to connect it to the local firms and institutions.

Recognising this need, in February 2007, the City Government, the Ajuntament de Barcelona, commissioned Imperial College Business School to undertake a research project focusing on the 22@ Barcelona District of Innovation, a large scale regeneration project that is transforming almost 200 hectares of the city into a centre for the knowledge intensive industries. The Ajuntament de Barcelona tasked the research team first with understanding the extent to which the international community was currently engaged with local firms and institutions and the local community. Secondly, the team was asked to determine the attitudes of the local community, firms and organisations towards newly arrived internationals and vice versa, and finally to suggest what actions could be taken to enhance the level of engagement between these communities in line with the objectives of the regeneration programme. More specifically, the Ajuntament sought to find ways to: accelerate the transformation of the city to a ‘knowledge city' (Barcelo 2007), and especially the new 22@ District so it becomes the new international heart of the city for both firms and institutions, and the international workforce and harness the international community's links to firms and institutions worldwide and hence both develop Barcelona as a global hub of innovation for knowledge-based industries and provide new international market opportunities for existing firms.

This paper describes the results of the study and demonstrates how successful urban regeneration and the corresponding transformation to a knowledge-intensive economy, demands a multi-facetted approach. The paper suggests three conclusions of relevance to city policymakers concerned with securing the economic future of their cities in the new environment. The first is that reliance on one or even a small set of linked initiatives is not enough for success in such a shift, a systemic approach is required. Secondly, it suggests more specifically that reliance on attracting international human capital as a catalyst for knowledge-intensive economic development without considering their personal needs and the needs for proper measures to connect this new population to the existing one, its firms and institutions is not likely to be successful - proactivity is needed in making connections between key players. Thirdly, it suggests that supply-side policies alone are insufficient and need complementing with demand-side initiatives. ...continues...

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