Territorial Review Copenhagen - Region Hovedstaden

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2.8. Conclusion
There appear to be several strategies rather than one common strategic
vision for Copenhagen. Although these visions do not conflict with each
other, they do not provide clear priorities on how to improve Copenhagen‘s
competitiveness. An impressive number of strategic policy documents have
been published over the last years, at the national, regional and city level.
The processes leading up to these documents have increased the
involvement of strategic actors in Copenhagen and resulted in some form of
alignment. The relative lack of focus in these strategic visions, however, is a
lost opportunity to create the sense of urgency needed to mobilise more
actors, such as the national government, to strengthen the key determinants
of Copenhagen‘s competitiveness.
Arguably the most important determinant in Copenhagen‘s competitive
position is the availability of highly skilled people. Policies in several fields
could be more active and better geared towards this aim. Several actors have
responsibilities in this area: national government, regional governments,
universities and businesses. Policy areas that merit attention include student
grants, less segregation at school level, enterprise-based training of
immigrants, internationalisation of higher education and more pro-active
attraction of highly skilled people through a more competitive international
talent attraction package.
Several policies could contribute to making an attractive case for
Copenhagen. Housing policies can ensure that housing remains attractive
and affordable; also for workers that provide key public services to the city.
Infrastructure policies can make sure that proximity and relative limited
congestion continue to be an asset for the region. Fine-tuning of
environmental policies could realise Copenhagen‘s ambition to become the
green capital of Europe and provide urban amenities such as clean water and
air. Cultural policies and increased ambitions in organising events could
bring more cultural amenities that could be appreciated by high-skilled
labour. Innovation and entrepreneurship policies continue to be important in
increasing economic dynamism and the knowledge-intensive environment
that can contribute to productivity.
National policies impose considerable constraints on Copenhagen. Many
of the challenges for Copenhagen‘s future competitiveness are directly or
indirectly related to national policy. National immigration and tax policy
have had an impact on Copenhagen‘s attractiveness to high-skilled foreign
labour, and housing legislation has made it difficult to solve housing
affordability problems. Danish-Swedish differences in national legislation
hinder further functional integration of the Øresund Region, and the national
parliament has yet to agree to the introduction of local road pricing.