Where we work 

Until the global financial crisis severely hit almost all European countries, the GDP growth per capita showed an unprecedented growth at the fringes instead of in the European core. This was the case for Cork, Tallinn, Seville, Budapest and most Polish metropolitan areas. Currently, the former dynamics in these cities are inversed in a strong downward trend. We witness both the potential and the vulnerabilities of the economies of these EU member states. This is reflected in the urban development dynamics. After a period of very strong upward market driven development, we now observe an almost complete stop of capital influx. Still, these mostly secondary cities have to compete in an open European and increasingly global market economy and they will need to invest in modern infrastructure, residential and workspaces and governance structures. In most medium sized cities there is a clear lack of expertise and institutional capacity to develop and guide the necessary developments. Stadslab aims to offer design expertise to its hosting-cities while offering its participants a unique way to develop their personal skills, knowledge and European network.