STEP: Improved Definition and Profiling for Sustainable Technology Parks Work Package 2: Regional Mapping March 2012 1 Research conducted by Dr. Nigel Berkeley, Dr. David Jarvis, Dr. Jason Begley and Dr. Gideon Maas Coventry University, West Midlands, United Kingdom Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Ude, Melanie Driesner and Udo Riedel IGZ, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Prof. Janusz Zaleski, Zbigniew Mogiła, Paweł Tomaszewski, Tomasz Korf , Gabriela Lisowiec and Małgorzata Wysocka WARR, Lower Silesia, Poland This document was prepared as part of the project “Improved Definition and Profiling for Sustainable Technology Park – STEP”, which is implemented within the project DISTRICT+, co-funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Project STEP is implemented in accordance with the Partnership Agreement between the Innovations-und GrunderZentrum Magdeburg GmbH (IGZ), Coventry University and Wroclaw Regional Development Agency and in accordance with Subsidy Contract for the implementation of the INTERREG IVC DISTRICT+ sub-project signed on 19 March 2011 . 2 Contents Part One: West Midlands Regional Mapping Report 1.0 Introduction 005 2.0 Identifying the current technology park situation 010 3.0 Resume & overview of experiences from other projects 021 4.0 Regional mapping of the automotive cluster 039 References 064 Part Two: Saxony-Anhalt Regional Mapping Report 5.0 Identifying the current technology park situation 068 6.0 Resume and overview of experiences from other EU-Projects and current Project 081 7.0 Lessons and good practices from current projects 088 3 8.0 Automotive Supplier Industry in Saxony-Anhalt 097 Part Three: Lower Silesia Regional Mapping Report 9.0 Introduction 118 10.0 Overview of Lower Silesia Region 119 11.0 The current situation of technology and industrial parks 124 12.0 Resume and overview of experiences from other EU-Projects 146 13.0 Regional Mapping of the Automotive Industry 163 14.0 Conclusions 208 15.0 Bibliography 214 4 Part One: West Midlands Regional Mapping Report Dr Nigel Berkeley, Dr David Jarvis, Dr Jason Begley and Dr Gideon Maas Coventry University, United Kingdom Coventry University Applied Research Centre in Sustainable Regeneration (SURGE) SURGE aims to support communities, practitioners and decision makers to achieve lasting change for society and the economy via a holistic and evidenced based approach to regeneration. www.coventry.ac.uk/surge 1.0 Introduction This report has been prepared under Work Package 2 (WP2) of the INTERREG IVC DISTRICT+ sub-project „Improved Definition and Profiling for Sustainable Technology Parks (STEP)‟. Project Implementation is scheduled over a 24 month period from May 2011 to April 2013 and involves a transnational partnership of three regions: Saxony-Anhalt (Germany); Lower Silesia (Poland); and, the West Midlands (United Kingdom). The main goals of the STEP project are as follows: a. To showcase the role played by virtual technology clusters in promoting the transformative shift of traditional industrial economies to more innovative and sustainable development pathways. b. To identify instruments, toolkits and methodologies to facilitate the creation of future orientated sustainable technology parks. c. To identify and analyse trends and developments in the field of electromobility and future oriented technology parks examining the role played by virtual and physical forms. The methodology applied by all three partners in this work package comprised four key stages. These stages are captured on the key tasks diagram, Figure 1.1 below. 5 Figure 1.1: Work Package 2: Key Tasks 4 Brainstorming workshop 3 Regional Mapping 2 Resume and overview of experiences from other EU-Projects Identifying current technology park situation 1 Guidance on the fulfilments of tasks 1 to 3 was issued by SP2 (Coventry University) and, in more detail, requested that each partner consider the following issues in compiling a regional mapping report for their region. 1.1 Identifying the current technology park situation In identifying the current technology park situation in their region, partners were asked to map the physical locations of technology parks, profile their occupancy rates and resident companies by type and sector. Alongside this, it was suggested that partners investigate technology park ownership arrangements and relationships with umbrella organisations, Universities and public authorities, the so called ‗triple-helix‘ that has been shown to be a key positive influence on exploitation of innovation and the growth and development of parks. In doing this, where data are publicly available, partners were also asked to consider the relative proportions of indigenous firms, foreign direct investors, spin out firms and start-up companies present. 1.2 Resume and overview of experiences from other EU-Projects The second key task under work package 2 involved the identification of lessons and good practice from partners‘ previous project experiences, including through other EU funded projects. These were to be grouped into two principal categories: (1) thematic lessons and; (2) practice lessons. Thematic lessons are concerned with sustainable technology park intelligence which might usefully be transferred between STEP partners, whilst practice lessons are related to methods of investigating the issue of Sustainable Technology Parks which could benefit the further development of the STEP project. Both sets of lessons were to be collated and carried forward to task 4 of the work package, an externally facilitated ‗brainstorming‘ workshop. 1.3 Regional Mapping of the Automotive Industry The third key task of work package 2 required partners to focus on the automotive sector 6 within their region and gather a set of intelligence which could be used to help inform and shape subsequent work package activity. The five individual components of this task were as follows: To define and profile the regional automotive sector according to the NACE 34 classification and identify key local geographic concentrations of activity To describe the characteristics of the sector in terms of its historical development, key firms, supply-chain linkages, current employment levels, workforce characteristics including skill levels, needs and shortages, contribution to regional GDP/GVA and market trends To analyse the key drivers of change including the roles played by government and other key stakeholders (partnerships and networks), technology and markets To use intelligence gathered through the activities above to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) for the automotive industry in the region Identify and critically appraise the regional policy instruments already in place designed to facilitate a transformative shift towards the sustainability of the automotive cluster 1.4 Brainstorming Workshop The final task of work package 2 required partners to participate in a facilitated brainstorming workshop designed to isolate transferable good practices from the resume and overview of experiences from other EU-Projects conducted in task 2 (see 1.2 above). Findings from this session, held in Magdeberg on 12th October 2011, are captured in a separate synthesis report pulled together by Partner 2 (Coventry University). Findings related to the West Midlands region for each of the first three workpackage tasks above are outlined in the remainder of this report. Before progressing onto the review of findings, however, it is useful first to ‗set the scene‘ by providing a brief socio-economic context for the region. 1.5 The West Midlands Region Geographically, the region extends from the Malvern Hills and Cotswolds in the south to the Peak District in the north. It is bounded by the Welsh border to the west and the East Midlands to the east (see Figure 1.2). 7 Figure 1.2: The West Midlands Region The population of the region stands at 5.43 million, 43% of whom live in urban conurbations, yet 80% of the land area can be described as rural in character. In the centre of the region, is the UK‘s second largest conurbation connecting Birmingham, the Black Country and Coventry (home to the automotive and engineering industries). A second, smaller conurbation, the Potteries, lies to the north of the region (home to the ceramics industry). The region occupies a central position in England and covers approximately 13000 square kilometres comprising Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire, as well as seven Metropolitan boroughs: Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton (Green and Berkeley, 2006). The regional economy is long-founded on manufacturing and a number of distinctive products that defined its cities. For example, Birmingham became famous for guns, buttons, toys, trinkets, jewellery and the motor industry; the Black Country for coal mining, bicycles, cars, armaments, machine tools and aero engines. Coventry produced watches, sewing machines, bicycles, motorcycles, aero engines, tractors, machine tools and cars; while the potteries made china, earthenware, bricks, tiles and pipes (Green and Berkeley, 2006). Perhaps the most telling economic event to have defined the West Midlands over the last number of decades has been the enormous decline in manufacturing jobs, a sector that nevertheless still provides significant employment (Table 1.1). 8 Table 1.1: West Midlands Employment Structure 1971-2008 1971 2008 Sector No. % No. % Agriculture and fishing 62,229 2.8 24,280 1.0 Energy and water 31,737 1.4 13,442 0.6 Manufacturing 1,103,859 50.0 324,560 13.8 Construction 103,721 4.7 114,768 4.9 Distribution, hotels and restaurants 220,533 10.0 556,449 23.6 Transport, communication, finance, insurance 414,832 18.8 576,432 24.5 Public administration, education & health 114,321 5.2 636,885 27.0 Other services 155,346 7.0 108,534 4.6 Total 2,206,578 100.0 2,355,350 100.0 Source: Annual Business Inquiry, NOMIS This decline in manufacturing employment has been offset by a corresponding rise in services, greatly altering the economic structure of the region in the last three to four decades. Table 1.2 offers a breakdown of the most prominent industries and services currently in operation in the region in terms of GVA and employment.