Two equally sized neighbouring cities, Linkoping and Norrkoping, are joining to establish East Sweden Metropolitan Area! The next step is gaining recognition as one of Europe's regions of the future

"The co-operation of our two cities will lead to dynamic growth through improved competitive power, and we can offer a high quality of life at all phases of life," says Mattias Ottosson, Chairman of Norrkoping's city executive board. "We are now established as the fourth largest metropolitan area. Our next goal is to get known as one of the growth regions of Europe."

"With the accumulated expertise in the region and the involvement of industry, our ambition is to increase the number of inhabitants from currently just over 400,000 to 500,000. This growth is a sure way to secure the future prosperity of the region," says Lars Jagerfelt, MD of Future Linkoping AB.

"This is a region with the heartbeat of a big city, but which also has the countryside right on its doorstep, a rich cultural life, and a buzzing entertainment district," says Thomas Sjolander, MD of New Norrkoping AB. In terms of sport, the region holds its own, with its legendary football club and an elite ice-hockey team, LHC, in Linkpoing.

Thanks to early investment in computer technology by Linkoping University, appealing ideas have gained support for development into new high-tech companies. Clusters of extraordinary motivation and vigour have endowed this region with world-class skills. This area has expertise in aeronautics, electronics, software, medical technology/biomedicine, telecommunications, and logistics that is unique in the world. An university with 25,000 students and 300 professors is one of the foremost in Europe.

The cities complement each other. Norrkoping is a large and highly advanced centre of logistics with one of Sweden's largest ports. Linkoping is a centre for aeronautics. Norrkoping has a significant processing industry and Linkoping a food industry. According to one EU report, the whole region is one of the most important centres of IT in Europe, with the highest proportion of people employed in IT-orientated industries in Sweden, after Stockholm.

In the future, high-speed trains will take 10 minutes between the cities, and less than an hour to Stockholm. This region has also three airports that allow flights to a range of European cities.