Case Study

Ideopolis: knowledge city-regions - Dublin case study  looks at the position of Dublin in the knowledge economy. It looks at the strengths and weaknesses of knowledge based growth and draws policy conclusions for the future of the city.

Key findings include:

• Physical knowledge city: House prices have increased exponentially, although the rate of new building is relatively high.
• Building on what’s there: Dublin has used its highly skilled population to attract mobile businesses, a significant factor in its growth.
• Diverse specialisation: The city has a range of specialisms, including pharmaceuticals and software. It has few large indigenous firms, and so is reliant on foreign businesses.
• High skill organisations: The Irish phenomenon has been, in part, about attracting companies which want to take advantage of its human capital. These jobs tend to be relatively high skill and high wage.
• Vibrant education sector: Dublin has three good universities, which are taking an increasingly entrepreneurial stance towards exploiting their intellectual property.
• Distinctive knowledge city offer: Dublin has benefited from the strong expatriate Irish community in the US, which has given Ireland an overseas identity.
• Investing in communities: Inequality in Dublin is high, a problem exacerbated by the rising cost of living