Za lokalni razvoj v na znanju temelječem globalnem gospodarstvu so potrebni kraji, ki so zares posebni, privlačni in ustvarjalni. Šele, ko morajo podjetja razvijati inovacije in investirati, da so uspešna, se morajo kraji prilagoditi, razviti in spremeniti. Posodobiti morajo transport, komunikacije in drugo infrastrukturo, pa tudi izobraziti ljudi. Vse to stane, v decembrski analizi o financiranju lokalnega razvoja ugotavlja OECD. Od 30 do 50 let lahko po tej oceni traja, da se gospodarstvo na določenem območju spremeni iz industrijskega v temelječega na znanju.

Such investment does bring returns, but many localities do not have the surplus cash, or the power over their own investment decisions, to make it possible. They also need the skills to seize their chance of success if the opportunity arises to make new investment and share the risks and costs with other public and private entities, such as hosting a global event, or being chosen to host a new research centre.

Regionalni razvoj se je v zadnjih dveh desetletjih korenito spremenil. Gospodarski razvoj mest in regij danes manj temelji na gradnji cest, mostov in tovarn, pa veliko več na razvoju telekomunikacij, vnovični izrabi zapuščenih industrijskih območij, visoki tehnologiji, središčih za kreativnost, znanstvenih parkih, oskrbovalnih verigah, znanju kot kapitalu, majhnih podjetjih, skupni promociji in razvoju skupnosti. Ker je most ali tovarno mogoče videti, oskrbovalne verige pa ne, je kapital za tovrstne investicije treba privabiti na drugačen način, pravijo izvedenci OECD.

Javno financiranje ni dovolj, regionalni razvoj je lahko dolgoročen in trajen le, če je vključen tudi zasebni sektor. Ta se je že začel v večji meri vključevati v tovrstne projekte, da pa javna administracija zmore to ponudbo uporabiti, jo je treba ustrezno usposobiti. Rezultati so vidni šele na dolgi rok, ki je bližje poslovnemu ciklu (12 do 15 let) kot mandatu, pridobljenem na volitvah (3 do 4 leta).

Delivering economic development to a locality or region is complex as it is subject to influences well beyond the control of local, regional or national governments. Equally, the time-frame for seeing results is closer to a business cycle (12-15 years) than to the electoral cycle (3-4 years). As a result, local development is more likely to succeed if it is treated as a long-term partnership between public, private, and institutional sectors.

Javni sektor mora pri zagotavljanju regionalnega razvoja zagotoviti občitljive javne storitve, zlasti dober in kakovosten izobraževalni sistem, načrtovanje, poskrbeti za privlačnost kraja in infrastrukturo. Z učinkovitim sodelovanjem med javnim in zasebnim sektorjem je treba zagotoviti strokovno izvedbo projektov.

A great deal has been written about how to develop local economic strategies, but very little has been written about how to establish the local investment strategies to pay for them. Many local economic strategies are never fully implemented because they did not identify the investment resources in advance and assumed private sector involvement without doing anything to attract it.

Če je regionalni razvoj uspešen, je korist obojestranska. Javni sektor oziroma oblast dobi delovna mesta, prihodek, rast, dodano vrednost in davke. Zasebni sektor dobi dobiček, tržne niše in priložnosti za nove investicije.

There are significant differences between governments in how local public funding is collected and distributed – how much tax is levied or spent at local level and how far local governments depend on transfer payments from higher tiers of government. Research carried out by the Council of Europe found that the share of local taxes in local government budgets varies between countries from 1-2% to 60%.

Glavni problem pri regionalnem razvoju ni denar, ampak komunikacija med oblastjo in zasebniki, vodenje in tehnični problemi pri financiranju.

It is important that local development comes to be viewed much more as an investment that local governments and their partners can make, rather than simply a matter of local government expenditure.
By creating jobs, re-using disused land, and fostering new forms of entrepreneurship and investment, local governments are fostering the factors of growth in their economies and the growth of the tax yield in the municipalities.

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