Business development and urban quality
This white paper summarizes the seminar in Bergen in April 2010, where member cities discussed Business development and urban quality. The theme focused on new urban qualities as a prerequisite for the innovative city, and the new approaches needed for integrating business development and urban development.
The starting point for the discussion was three basic assumptions:
- That urban quality should be envisaged in a context of business policy
- That there is economic development associated with urban quality
- That urban quality, albeit unconsciously, is part of many companies' business strategy.
Central in the linkage between business and urban quality is the concept of urban capital. Urban capital is the value of the city's many resources in terms of actual companies and institutions. It concerns to a variety of factors in the city - urban spaces, urban life, cultural atmosphere, public transport, accessibility, proximity, urban values, functional integration and many other things.
Download the white paper, or you can visit the meeting page to read more about the seminar.