Argues that understanding 'knowledge cities' will be crucial to the future prosperity of the UK. Considers whether 'knowledge cities' have distinct qualities. Investigates which factors create a knowledge city, and what contribution 'knowledge' makes to economic success and quality of life in a city. Provides a definition of ‘ideopolis’ and looks at which cities in the UK are ideopolises. Considers the reasons for aspiring to be an ideopolis and identifies the key drivers of an ideopolis. Looks at how cities can use the ideopolis concept. Provides case studies from the UK and Europe.

The research starts with the assumption that the UK’s future prosperity depends on the confluence of business and government in harnessing the power of the knowledge economy through cities and city-regions. The aim was to find out whether cities which can be defined as ‘ideopolis’ really exist and, if they do, how they have made the transition from post-industrial to knowledge economy. A further aim was to explore what lessons can be learned from such cities.

An extensive literature review was carried out. Data on 94 UK urban areas and nine city-regions was gathered, mainly from the Office for National Statistics. A literature review of previous quality of life surveys, and a telephone survey of 1,000 UK urban residents were carried out. Case studies of ten UK cities were conducted. International case studies were commissioned for Boston, Dublin, Lisbon and Munich.

The following key policy recommendations are made:

The Work Foundation
Alexandra Jones, tel. +44 20 7004 7200

01/03/2006

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Alexandra Jones, Laura Williams, Neil Lee, David Coats and Marc Cowling

research

Urban Policy > Economy knowledge & employment > Urban economy

Specific sectors