Smart Specialisation
4.4 | Our Region’s Economic Engines This sectionhighlights ourmain economic engines - our cities and their metropolitan areas, the Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC), the Eastern Corridor, Key Towns, towns and villages. Core to our settlement strategy is convergence between improved quality of life and where people live and work. Clustering Capacity Building Knowledge Diffusion Placemaking for Enterprise Development Resilient, Inclusive and Sustainable regional economy
Cities: Cork, Limerick, Waterford
Region’s Economic Drivers
Limerick City
Cork City
Waterford City
The ESRI (2018) and Project Ireland 2040 highlight that our largest settlements are relatively small compared to other EU cities that directly compete for Foreign Direct Investment. This places our Region at a disadvantage against the attractiveness of Dublin or other large EU cities. Research (ESRI 2018) has identified that the development of scale in our cities will have regional and national benefits. The provision of infrastructure, services, housing, and amenities to attract and retain residents is critical to achieve these benefits. The RSES promotes a co-ordinated, co-operative and collaborative intra-regional partnership approach between our cities and their metropolitan areas and a similar inter-regional approach with the Galway Metropolitan Area in the Northern and Western Region. This will provide a more effective counterbalance to Dublin.
Region’s Economic Drivers
Atlantic Economic Corridor
Eastern Corridor
Towns and Villages
Key Towns
Networks
Good Practice: The UK Northern Powerhouse
In 2015, a partnership between central and local government and the road and rail agencies in the UK published a strategic vision to transform the economy of the North of England, based primarily on a world-class transport system linking the individual cities and towns in that region. Alongside investment in skills, support for business and regeneration of the city centres, a transformation in connections between the great cities of the North and beyond would enable them to increase their productivity to meet levels currently only seen in London and the South East. The strategy’s aim is for economic growth in the North to be at least as high as the rest of the country to complement and act as a balance to the economic weight of London. The strategy is about using transport to aid change in future patterns of land use and economic growth. Rather than forecasting the future from current trends, it aims to change that future. A workforce able to move around its region, including between cities, is able to better access jobs and opportunities. A more mobile workforce means a bigger labour market which benefits businesses. Businesses which are well connected to each other can find much needed services and products, and the costs of transporting people and products are lower, and more business interactions generate new ideas and innovation. Specific funding is provided for joint projects between the Northern Powerhouse cities.
Southern Regional Assembly | RSES
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