EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network

R.U.B.I.N

Introduction

A project with the purpose of creating a comprehensive background material prior to the adoption of Region Plan 2005.

Problem

The RUBIN project was initiated by the North Jutland County Council in 2002 after an objection to the region plan. The objective was to be able to modernize the chapters in the region plan dealing with urban development and urban patterns.

Description

The project partly consists of background analyses of the regional development and partly gives a number of perspectives and recommendations regarding the future development.

Approach

The reports deal with the economic, demographic, business and educational situation of North Jutland and also includes the following topics: urban qualities and settlement in cities in northern Jutland, town and landscape qualities, cultural life, identity, image and media, research and innovation, business structure, international contacts, transport and infrastructure, and geography. 7 background reports and a discussion paper have been published.

Results

Northern Jutland has a number of competitive advantages in comparison to other regions:

Northern Jutland has a good infrastructure with new motorways, an international airport close to Aalborg and 4 dynamic harbours in Aalborg, Hirtshals, Frederikshavn and Skagen;
Northern Jutland has a strategic position for developing the co-operation with the markets in southern Norway and western Sweden;
Northern Jutland has the ocean and fjords as natural boundaries which give a possibility to maintain and develop further a regional identity;
Northern Jutland has an attractive work force which continuously can be upgraded;
Northern Jutland has a development potential in the country districts and in the food product industries (traditional agricultural production as well as development quality and niche products).

Northern Jutland also has a number of competitive disadvantages in comparison to other regions:

Funding for research is still distributed disproportionately to the old universities in Copenhagen, Århus and Odense;
Northern Jutland does not receive the amount of government companies that objectively would be best placed in Northern Jutland;
Northern Jutland is not centrally positioned to the Danish home market;
The average level of education in Northern Jutland is lower than the country wide average.

Contact info

The County of North Jutland
Denmark
Tommy Tvedergaard Madsen, tel. 0045 96351146

Project start date

Cities

The County of North Jutland, Denmark

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords

Urban environment

Institutional characteristics
Regional government