In this respect urban research plays an important role as an interpreter of the impacts of globalisation in accordance with various regional and local settings. It can often therefore help to open the way for innovative and proactive future strategies.
In a study carried out by Nordregio and NIBR1 in 2007 the objective was to provide a 'state of the art' overview of Nordic urban research and to pinpoint the strengths and research strongholds of Nordic institutions seen from a policy point of view and from an international perspective. Furthermore it was the aim also to come up with proposals for future common Nordic research themes.
The Nordic urban research infrastructure consists of three main elements which are more or less intertwined: the research institutions, the research programmes, and the formal and informal networks between research institutions and researchers at the national, Nordic and international levels.
Urban research in the various Nordic countries presents many similarities, essentially due to the geography, history and welfare systems they share, but also many differences, linked with the specificity of each national context. These differences can be related both to the varying nature of each individual national research infrastructure and to the distinct national research policies utilised.
In a European context, the Nordic countries are, to some extent, unique as they have low population densities and large and sparsely populated areas. These unique Nordic preconditions provide certain challenges to the Nordic societal structure but at the same time these rather special Nordic features provide a common ground for urban research collaboration.
The national urban research programmes, conducted in each of the Nordic countries in the period 2000 -2007, reflect the diversity of Norden. The programmes are all rather national in character, not only in the selection of themes, but also in the compositions of boards and projects. Nevertheless, extensive contact and cooperation exists between Nordic researchers on urban issues. However this cooperation remains to a large extent formalized in research projects, and predominantly exists only as a part of wider international networks.
National urban research programmes also tend to encourage urban researchers and institutions to cooperate in a transversal research field, i.e. by bringing together stakeholders from multiple sectoral interests and from multiple professional disciplines.
The urban research produced in the Nordic countries is undertaken by many institutions. The competence of these institutes lies, predominantly, in their capacity to perform cross-sectoral and pluri-disciplinary studies on urban issues, promoting urban research as a transversal rather than as a sectoral issue.
A comparative study of published articles shows that Nordic urban research is of a good standard and remains highly visible on the international stage. However, each of the Nordic countries produces only a small proportion of the total published urban research. This is perhaps to be expected given the small size, in relative terms, of the Nordic countries.
A new Nordic research programme on urban development issues would therefore enable us to give greater coherence to the nationally fragmented Nordic urban research landscape. It could also integrate the various national research infrastructures and thus bring together a greater 'critical mass' for more targeted and better research.
Seen from an institutional point of view four main research fields with an acknowledged high-level of Nordic competence can be identified, namely:
• The role of cities in national/regional development and global competition
• The Social dimension of urban development
• The Urban environment and the environmental impacts of cities
• Urban governance and planning
Three overall research themes were prioritised in the study as the most important areas of future urban research in the Nordic countries. They can be labelled as follows:
• The diversity of cities – creativity and segregation
• The role and functions of cities in regional and (trans)national development
• The post-carbon city – mitigation and adaptation to climate change
In addition to these future research themes, a number of cross-cutting dimensions were also identified. These can be summarized in the following manner:
• Sustainable development
• The Nordic Welfare Regime in transition
• Globalisation and its impact on Nordic cities and urban governance.
In the context of the future research themes proposed by Klaus Kunzmann2 a high degree of congruence can be identified between the Nordic and the broader European proposals. Most striking in this regard is the fact that both sets of proposals underline the importance of the multi-disciplinary, multi-sector and multi-scale approaches. The 'energy-environ-ment-mobility complex'/'the post carbon city' is but one example of such an approach.
What perhaps distinguishes the two sets of proposals is the weight placed on governance. Here the Nordic proposal underlines the importance of governance as a cross-cutting and ongoing research theme. Kunzmann, for his part, signals that he is tired of 'the pet-themes of participation, governance and cluster development'. Instead he would like to place more emphasis now on the implica-tions of geopolitical developments and on the impacts of different locational choices on space.
Of course Kunzmann has a point here, decisions taken outside Europe by e.g. global companies and political developments in the Middle East will of course play a crucial role in the future of Urban Europe.
1 Urban development, Nordic strengths and challenges under the heading of a new global agenda. Nordregio and NIBR commissioned by NordForsk 2007
2 See pp 12 - 21 in this issue of Journal of Nordregio