The 5 European cities with the best innovation ecosystems

In an increasingly competitive world, innovation has become a fundamental pillar for the development of cities. The latter need innovation ecosystems to facilitate collaboration between the actors that make up society. Some cities of the old continent demonstrate every year, through their presentation to European Capital of Innovation Awards, iCapital, promoted by the European Commission, which today have a great capacity to generate cutting-edge ideas and technologies to enlarge the territory. In addition, they also cultivate environments conducive to the acceleration of startups, the attraction of international talent and collaboration between companies, universities, the public sector and citizens. Through this context, PATIO Innovation & Startup Campus, a leading ecosystem in innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainability, has compiled 5 European cities that have excelled in this area in recent years:

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• Madrid (Spain): Madrid is a city with a great strategic focus on innovation, reaching 5,130 million euros of investment in R&D internal in 2022, which represents 26.5% of the national total. It stands out for offering funds, tax benefits and policies to support research and development; and its growing community of startups and venture capital, backed by a favorable regulatory environment and notable growth, makes it an attractive destination for entrepreneurs and investors. In fact, in 2021 the investment stock in the Community of Madrid amounted to 363,063 million euros, which became 155% of regional GDP. In addition, 2,293 technological startups have been founded in the last ten years, thus occupying the 5th place in Europe by number of startups and, on the other hand, it is the first city in terms of number of multinationals in Spain. It currently represents 19.4% of GDP in Spain, since it generates an average of 48,000 jobs per year. In addition, it could be considered the third market in the European Union considering that many multinationals operate in Portugal from Madrid.

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• Linköping (Sweden): has been consolidated as a rising innovative city in Europe in 2023 by iCapital, as it is one of the pioneering cities in Europe in trying to remedy climate change, since, by 2030, Linköping aims to be carbon neutral and achieve a 70% reduction in CO2 emissions. By 2045, the goal is even more ambitious: to achieve net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases. To this end, one of the solutions are collaborative initiatives such as “Climate-Neutral Cities”. In addition, it has The Linköping Science Park which offers a single platform for business development programs and networks that serves as a hub for research, innovation and commercialization. In fact, technology companies are growing stronger in Linköping than in any other comparable city.

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• Lisbon (Portugal): Lisbon has emerged as a city of innovation through major initiatives such as its Unicorn Factory, launched in 2021 to attract entrepreneurs to the Portuguese capital with significant advantages. In just two years, it has managed to attract 12 pre-existing unicorns from the US, China, Israel, Brazil and India; in addition to 54 new technology centers from 23 countries, generating 10,000 jobs and establishing 13 business incubation and acceleration programs. Also noteworthy are significant events such as the Web Summit, which has called Lisbon home since 2016, have consolidated its position as a global innovation hub. All these actions have led to the city being recognized as the 2023 European Capital of Innovation.

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• Warsaw (Poland): Warsaw has emerged as one of the European capitals of innovation because it implements the actions of SDG Objectives such as “Building a sustainable community” or getting involved in the “Health and Wellbeing” of its citizens. In this way, it has outlined the #Varsovia2030 strategy, which is based on three fundamental pillars: “active resident”, “friendly space” and “open metropolis”. For citizens to be part of this change, it has created services such as the Open Data Portal and an application dedicated to urban flora, evidencing its constant search to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. In addition, Warsaw has doubled the size of its protected areas in the last six decades, betting on “rewilding” to restore natural ecosystems.

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• Padua (Italy): the innovation ecosystem in this Veneto city is driven by the Innovation Council, a platform that unites public, private and academic actors. Located on Innovation Boulevard, this experimental space promotes the testing, implementation and enrichment of emerging innovations. In this way, the city has responded to problems such as heavy traffic by introducing a tram line into its infrastructure that reduced traffic jams by 40%, and two additional lines are expected by 2026. In addition, this city has promoted community initiatives such as TEDx Padua and events such as City Vision and the Festival Galileo Festival della Scienza e Innovazione to promote the exchange of ideas and scientific progress throughout Italy. Thus, all citizens have the opportunity to be part of the change and help respond to the challenges faced by their cities. For all these initiatives, it has also been named as the second rising innovative city in Europe in 2023.

Data from the European Union show that, despite crises, innovation is more present than ever. In fact, at the regional level, innovation results have improved to 88% of European regions since 2016, achieving better results than China and close to closing the gap with Australia. There is no doubt that innovation has become an essential quality for those cities that want to move forward and be recognized. An example of this are the above-mentioned territories that are making their way to success, thanks to the creation of environments, such as PATIO Campus, where companies, universities and citizens can collaborate closely. These initiatives not only promote the creation of new companies and the attraction of global talent, but they also implement innovative solutions that improve daily life and that are in line with the current needs of society, such as the fight against climate change.