Objective In this project we aim to assess the impact of the emerging "creative class" and the rise of the "creative industries" on the competitiveness of EU metropolitan regions. While the traditional "hard" location factors that firms use will remain important for international competitiveness, new "soft" location factors that are mainly related to attracting the required "talent pool" would deserve increasing attention. The central research question we will address is: what are the conditions for creating or stimulating "creative knowledge regions" in the context of the extended European Union? We will compare the recent socio-economic development trends and strategies in several metropolitan regions across Europe to get more insight in the extent to which creativity, innovation and knowledge are indeed the keys to a successful long-term economic development. The metropolitan regions in the ACRE project are: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Birmingham, Budapest, Dublin, Helsinki, Leipzig, Milan, Munich, Poznan, Riga, Sofia and Toulouse. With the results of this study the EU might seriously consider strengthening the profile of metropolitan regions within the EU area as regards creative knowledge branches and activities in the face of increasing competition with other growth regions in the world. The most important topic to consider is which metropolitan regions might develop as "creative knowledge regions", and which regions might not. This will depend on current positions in global and European networks and on historic development paths. In this research leading European experts with complementary disciplinary backgrounds from places with clearly different pathways concerning the creative knowledge economy will be brought together. This will help to significantly improve our understanding of the conditions that shape the emergence of a creative knowledge economy and of its importance for enhanced competitiveness. Keywords competitiveness creative knowledge qualified migrants regional economic policy Programme(s) FP6-LIFESCIHEALTH - Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health: Thematic Priority 1 under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006. Topic(s) LSH-2003-1.2.4-6 - Dendritic cells for novel immunotherapies Call for proposal FP6-2004-CITIZENS-4 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme IP - Integrated Project Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM Address Spui 21 Postbus 19268 Amsterdam Netherlands See on map Links Website Opens in new window EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (12) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA Spain EU contribution € 0,00 Address Gran via de les corts catalanes 585 (vicerectorat de política internacional) Barcelona See on map Links Website Opens in new window THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Edgbaston Birmingham See on map Links Website Opens in new window FOLDRAJZTUDOMANYI KUTATOINTEZET - MAGYAR TUDOMANYOS AKADEMIA Hungary EU contribution € 0,00 Address Budaörsi ut 45. Budapest See on map Links Website Opens in new window HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO Finland EU contribution € 0,00 Address Yliopistonkatu 4 Helsingin yliopisto, helsinki See on map Links Website Opens in new window LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUER LAENDERKUNDE E.V. Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Schongauerstr. 9 Leipzig See on map Links Website Opens in new window LUDWIG-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Geschwister-scholl-platz 1 Muenchen See on map Links Website Opens in new window UNIWERSYTET IM. ADAMA MICKIEWICZA W POZNANIU Poland EU contribution € 0,00 Address Ul.h. wieniawskiego, 1 Poznan See on map Links Website Opens in new window STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS IN RIGA Latvia EU contribution € 0,00 Address Strelnieku iela 4a Riga See on map Links Website Opens in new window NEW BULGARIAN UNIVERSITY Bulgaria EU contribution € 0,00 Address Ul. montevideo 21 Sofia See on map Links Website Opens in new window UNIVERSITE DE TOULOUSE II - 'LE MIRAIL ' France EU contribution € 0,00 Address Allees antonio machado 5 Toulouse See on map Links Website Opens in new window UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO - BICOCCA Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Piazza dell'ateneo nuovo 1 Milano See on map Links Website Opens in new window UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DUBLIN Ireland EU contribution € 0,00 Address Belfield 000 Dublin See on map Links Website Opens in new window