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Metropolitan dimension to the Strategy
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by Ewa Kurjata
The EU Strategy for the BSR should have a
genuinely Baltic dimension and promote in the first place
those initiatives and projects that are relevant to all
Baltic actors. The EU strategy should reflect the region's
identity and focus on the region's sustainable development,
covering the major role of metropolitan areas in the region.
As the BSR strives for a top position on the European ranking
for growth and competitiveness, the metropolises and their
functional regions are deemed to be the motors of development.
The strategy should also reflect the polycentric Baltic
regions and their clusters significant to urban development.
From the regional perspective. West Pomeranian
Region postulates developing such significant projects as:
the CETC and Northern Transportation Corridors, pan-national
entrepreneurial cooperation networking - Baltic clusters,
integrated energy systems in the BSR - and on top of that
developing the integrated maritime policy for the BSR. Additionally,
West Pomeranian Region proposed to the EC another flagship
project related to developing spatial planning procedures
in the sea areas, taking into consideration investment location
based on their environmental capacity.
From the municipal perspective, the economic,
organisational and technological changes affecting transportation
have clearly caused the disappearance of port activities
from historical urban waterfronts. Port cities, like Szczecin,
striving to take most of public amenities and settlement
opportunities offered by the re-development of waterfront
and surrounding areas, want to attract new capital, new
consumer opportunities, and therefore new 'talented people'.
Renovation of waterfronts is seen here as
the process that innovates the leading economic functions
in the city and contributes to better urban development.
Another powerhouse of development is setting up regional
and transnational innovative networks together with universities,
scientific parks and development agencies. Projects such
as waste water plant construction mean better quality of
living for the szczecinians and better quality of the Baltic
waters, which is our commonly shared resource. With its
new"revolutionary urban vision" of A Floating
Garden proposed in mid 2008, Szczecin turns to water, ecology
and plans to combine benefits of a metropolis and a comfortable
place to live. In this context, the city welcomes the EU
strategy, especially as its policies seem to fit well into
the overall Baltic vision.
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