1. Eurocities Metropolitan Areas WG
Hamburg’s
Regional Philosophy
Eurocities Metropolitan Areas WG
Dr. Rolf-Barnim Foth -- BWVI Hamburg -- – 18 October 2017

2. Regional Structures in Germany - Federal States
16 Federal States (incl. 3 City States: Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen
own Governments with ministries
own Parliaments with law making powers and own taxes
own competences in:
education incl. universities
culture
police + security
economy/Business
sports
housing
international relations in these fields
In most other topics in joint competence with German Government
The Federal State Governments are represented in 2nd Chamber of Federal Parliament (Bundesrat) and participate in federal legislation

3. Districts and „non-aligned“ cities
districts (295 „Landkreise“) below Federal State Level. Competences vary depending on the Federal State:
hospitals, emergency rescue services
social security, youth care
maintenance of roads
public transport
professional schools
management during catastrophes; animal epidemic disease
food security
licensing of cars
spatial planning
waste management
coordination of cities/smaller communities within the resp. Districts
larger cities (as a rule > ) remain outside districts (107„kreisfreie Städte“ with > 25 mill. inhabitants)
Source: intermap

4. 12 German MR vs. Federal States
2012
2016

5. Metropolitan Regions = functional regions
metro regions serve to organise functional (business) regions and labour markets across administrative boundaries;
the German metro regions are all different in terms of organisation and competences, membership and tasks/projects,;
they share cooperation on a voluntary basis, at eye-level, on the basis of trust and win-win;
all deal with region building, tourism, public transport, climate change, demographic change, nature protection projects, marketing, cluster policy, triple helix cooperation, etc.
most work on the basis of „géométrie variable“

6. Short history of Germany‘s 12 Metropolitan Regions
1995: official acknowledgement of 7 „European Metro Regions“ by Germany‘s Ministers responsible for spatial planning (Capital Region Berlin, Frankfurt Rhein-Main, Hamburg, „Saxon Triangle“, Munich, Rhein-Ruhr, Region Stuttgart)
2001: coaching process with scientific support; foundation of IKM (Network of MR of Germany)
2003: first political demands to Standing Conference of Minister Presidents of Federal States
2005: 4 more metro regions founded (Nuremberg, Rhein-Neckar, Bremen-Oldenburg, Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg)
2017 split of Rhein-Ruhr into two MR: Metropole Ruhr + Rheinland (Düsseldorf/Cologne/Duisburg, Bonn, Aachen)

7. Hamburg: Who we are …
Germany’s 2nd largest city with a growing population of ; largest non-capital of EU; motor of a MR of 5,3 mio = 1% of EU population
City State with law making powers + own taxes
19 universities, students
foreign trade hub for 800 years and turntable between Northern Europe and Asia, Latin America and Africa
regional cluster policies in civil aviation, logistics, maritime industry, new energies, creative industries, healthcare, life science, media & IT, food

8. Example Tourism: The Chinese perspective
„BejEU“: Hamburg is seen as the southern most city of Scandinavia – rather than the northern most of Germany ! If Hamburg wants tourism from China, it has to cooperate !

9. What about Hamburg‘s visibility on the World Map ?
(Sources: Wikipedia, WolframAlpha; ranks vary in given ranges)

10. Hamburg‘s neighbourhood growth policy since 2007
Result of cooperation: Accession of …
3 districts, 2 cities and 1 more Federal State on 1 May 2012;
1 district, 1 city and 12 business sector organisations on 1 March 2017

11. Hamburg Metropolitan Region
36 members:
4 Federal States
17 districts
3 cities (Lübeck, Neumünster, Schwerin)
7 Chambers of Industry and Commerce 3 Chambers of Crafts
1 Trade Union Congress (DGB)
1 Employers‘ Union (UV Nord)
2 permanent advisory councils:
towns and companies
km²
5,3 million inhabitants
200 billion Euro GDP

12. Hamburg MR - voluntary cooperation at eye level + mutual benefit + géometrie variable
Structure
Political Level meetings 2x p.a.
Executive Level meetings 6x p.a.
Working groups (economy, tourism, spatial planning, environment, education, transport, climate and energy, spatial data)
Secretariat with 14 staff and € p.a. (paid by all members)
Project Office (registered association)
Project Funds: 2,7 mio € (provided by the 4 Federal States – Hamburg pays 50% and provides premises for free)

13. Types of projects (examples)
Joint marketing of real estate
Fast bike lanes; feasibility study
Internationalisation in tourism
Demographic change
Park & ride infrastructure
Climate change scenarios for our region
Nature protection projects
Cultural projects
Financing of concepts, feasibility studies (e.g. OECD study)
In separate organisational structure and with participation of a limited number of actors: marketing, public transport, clusters
Regular political meeting of Hamburg‘s mayor with heads of regions and mayors + meetings on Federal State level

14. Holistic marketing for Hamburg MR
75,0 % City of Hamburg
15,0 % Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
10,0 % 17 districts of Metropolitan Region Lübeck + Neumünster + Schwerin
(„Region sitting in the driver‘s seat“) since 2007
(Concrete cooperation outside political bodies!)

15. Cluster policy „Maritime Industry“
From HMR to 5 Federal States:
Kick off by HMR in 2007;
3 Federal States in 2011;
5 Federal States in 2017
= 10 years !!!
2011 across 3, 2017 across 5 Federal States
Source: NDCH.de

16. Emerging cross border functional regions
HMR is extending its urban + urban + rural cooperation to Greater Copenhagen and Skåne (LoI 2017)
Topics (e.g.):
Tourism, logistics, wind energy, creative industries, food, life science , university cooperation
Aim: enhance competitiveness + global visibility

17. Femern Belt Tunnel - a region building opportunity !
Source: HTC – Hanseatic Transport Consultancy Hamburg

18. World-leading facilities for analysis of materials and molecules > region building opportunity !
Investment in Region HH-CPH-Lund: 4 Mrd. Euro !
ESS, Lund
Worlds most powerful neutron source
MAX IV, Lund
Worlds most brilliant
x-ray synchrotron
FLASH II
Worlds most powerful soft x-ray laser
PETRA III, Hamburg
Worlds most brilliant hard x-ray synchrotron
XFEL, Hamburg
World most brilliant x-ray free electron laser
World’s most powerful x-ray and neutron facilities – New discoveries
High impact in areas as light and strong materials, bio-technology, energy technology, microelectronics, ICT, health, geology, archeology....
Tackle societal challenges – Energy, health, communications, environment
Stimulate young people’s interest in science and technology
Attract talent – brain gain

19. Thank you for your interest - Questions ?
More information on the philosophy of metropolitan-rural cooperation + best practice examples:
-metropolitan-areas-of-influence.pdf