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Many metropolitan regions around the world have grown beyond their core city. By growing bigger, they often improve their capacity to attract investment, upgrade their skills base and move up the global value chain. Large metropolitan regions are better equipped than smaller cities to reap “agglomeration economies”, which typically arise when firms and workers in close proximity share knowledge and become more productive together.
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With almost 5.4 million inhabitants, the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (HMR) covers a heterogeneous mix of urban and rural areas fragmented across four federal states (the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and parts of three states surrounding it: Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Lower Saxony). Although a co-ordination body is in place (HMR Office) to promote dialogue, it has no dedicated competency.
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With about 8% of the national territory, the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (HMR) is the second largest in Germany, just behind the metropolitan region of Berlin-Brandenburg. Home to almost 5.4 million inhabitants, it encompasses the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (which is also a federal state) and parts of 3 states surrounding it: Schleswig-Holstein (51% of its territory lies within the HMR), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (30%), and Lower Saxony (26%). The metropolitan region brings together 20 districts and more than 1 100 municipalities.
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This chapter analyses the main trends, challenges and opportunities in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (referred to as HMR for short), with a particular focus on three dimensions: i) economic performance, innovation and digitalisation; ii) quality of life, transport, housing, environmental sustainability and tourism; and iii) the institutional framework. In doing so, the chapter benchmarks the HMR with all other metropolitan regions in Germany and with carefully selected, comparable metropolitan regions across OECD countries.
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Strengthening economic development, innovation and digitalisation in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region
Despite its strong clusters and high level of entrepreneurial activity in urban centres, the Hamburg Metropolitan Region (HMR) faces important policy challenges to economic development, including low labour productivity and human capital. This chapter examines how innovation can enhance economic growth and productivity in the HMR, by looking at key drivers of innovation: (i) education and human capital; (ii) entrepreneurship and dynamic small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and (iii) digitalisation.
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Although the HMR boasts a high quality of life, there is potential to harness the region’s full potential through more effective collaborative planning across the HMR. This chapter discusses policies to foster more sustainable and balanced development in the HMR and puts forward recommendations for further action centred on four dimensions: i) housing, land use and spatial planning; ii) mobility; iii) energy efficiency; and iv) quality of life.