New Espon results show that geographic core of Europe is spreading

The European core is traditionally defined by the cornerstones created by London, Hamburg, Munich, Milan and Paris. Although this ìpentagonî area covers only 14 per cent of the 25 EU Member States (including Bulgaria, Romania, Norway and Switzerland), it generates 46per cent of its GDP, is home to 32 per cent of its inhabitants and enjoys 75 per cent of its research and development investments in 2002. Current economic figures and urban development published by ESPON, the European observation network, show that this core of Europe is extending along a number of corridors.

The latest ESPON analysis reveals that the European core needs to be defined more widely today; either by the cornerstones of Manchester, Berlin, Venice, Genoa and Paris; or, alternatively, depicting the integration process as the core spreading along several corridors. One such ìextension corridorî is in the UK and stretches through the West Midlands towards Manchester. Another stretches into Central and Eastern Europe, and a third heads into Southern Italy.

Several other larger metropolitan conurbations and many small and medium sized towns outside the European core are gaining ground as important nodes for European development. Many of these are important economic engines and host internationally important activities .

The published research map illustrates the functional characteristics of 76 major European urban conurbations with regard to their international importance in industrial capacity, tourism, accessibility by road, rail and air, higher education institutions, locations of important public administration and government functions, and the amount of companies they host that rank within the top 1500 in Europe.

Only 18 of these major European urban conurbations are located in the traditional core of Europe. Furthermore, only 14 of these are of significance internationally with regards to all six of the characteristics assessed. These include: Amsterdam, Athens, Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Lisbon, Madrid, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna and Warsaw.

The smaller of the 76 major European urban conurbations are often more specialised and of international importance with regard to one or two of the above functions. In Poland these are, for example, industrial and higher education functions, whereas in France, tourism and universities are the two main functions. I In the UK, it is particularly the higher education that stands out with regard to the small metropolitan conurbations .

The map also illustrates the proximity to neighbouring regions and/or the nearest metropolitan centre. This should stimulate thoughts and ideas about possibilities for territorial cooperation with neighbouring areas and cities, taking into account proximity as well as functional profiles and specialisation.

Peter Mehlbye, director of the ESPON Coordinating Unit, said:î Taking the larger territorial contexts into consideration is a promising way of improving competitiveness and bring added value to an area. Exploiting comparative advantages together with neighbouring areas and cities can make the common territory richer in economic, environmental, social and cultural terms than if the same areas and cities decide and manage their development apartî