Through the empirical study and the analysis in chapters five to seven I have produced an overview of the story-lines of competitiveness and their institutionalisation at the national level, as well as a more in-depth study of the process and status of institutionalising competitiveness in local government. I have been fundamentally concerned with spatial competitiveness, although shifting metaphors of competitiveness mean that this is related to other conceptualisations of competitiveness such as the economic. Altogether my findings demonstrate the strong institutionalisation of competitiveness in Denmark, in national policy and in the case of local government in a small city, Vejle Municipality. I have interpreted competitiveness as a discourse through a variety of story-lines, and its institutionalisation is seen in a variety of policy practices and actions.
In table 8.1 I have brought together the findings from the three research questions. Table 8.1 shows the two national story-lines of competitiveness and the three story-lines of competitiveness in Vejle Municipality, the associated metaphors and the evidence of the institutionalisation of these story-lines. The institutionalisation of competitiveness in national policy and in local government in Vejle Municipality is strong. At both scales there are competitiveness-oriented story-lines and associated metaphors which simplify the understanding of spatial competitiveness, and make connections to the policy actions and practices which are the manifestations of the institutionalisation of the discourse. In Vejle Municipality I have shown that this institutionalisation has been a process in municipal planning, with competitiveness-oriented story-lines emerging over the last 30 years. This investigation of the process has shown that competitiveness is
Story-LinesMetaphorsInstitutionalisation National LevelA Leading DenmarkA competitive race Governmental strategies promoting competitiveness; annual competitiveness reports
Internal Competition
Places as motors; places having special identities National spatial policies; particular places selected as meriting special planning initiatives.
Vejle MunicipalityA visionary municipalityBeing seen from the moon
Visions and strategies generally; branding and being known; a culture of ‘daring’ and ambition; manifestation in the built environment.
An outward-looking municipality
Healthy competition
Study tours; ranking and benchmarking; general comparisons and ‘inspiration’-seeking.
AttractivenessLack of clear metaphors
Manifestation in the built environment; focus on attracting specific types of people and businesses; focus on particular modes of development.
Table 8.1: Collected empirical findings.
not ‘natural’ or the way that local government has always been oriented. The interpretation of the story-lines of competitiveness across the municipality today has then shown both the strength of the institutionalisation and the degree to which competitiveness is unquestioned in this small city today. These findings regarding Vejle Municipality can then be viewed in the wider Danish context, in terms of the empirical findings which show the competitiveness story-lines at the national level, both in terms of an outward competitiveness orientation and also a belief in the need for spatial differentiation within Denmark.
There are several points which stand out from the findings in table 8.1 in terms of both the case study of Vejle Municipality and the investigation of spatial competitiveness in national policy. At both the national level and in Vejle Municipality there is a strong comparative element to being competitive. This is most obvious in terms of explicit rankings and benchmarking, for example as in the Competitiveness Reports at the national level or the Growth Barometer in Vejle. These types of comparisons are strongly coherent in terms of how they are defined and in terms of who the competitors are, for example comparing Denmark with other OECD countries and Vejle Municipality with neighbouring municipalities. Yet comparisons are a part of competitiveness in more ways than this. Within Vejle Municipality, comparisons are often undefined, in terms of a seemingly simple idea to be ‘the best’. The idea that competition is a concept which involves ‘competitors’ is not always clear for interviewees in Vejle Municipality, and competitors are not always necessary for the legitimisation of being ‘the best’, or in the metaphor of competitiveness as something ‘healthy’.
Comparisons are also apparent in terms of ‘inspiration’ rather than explicit competition, with Vejle Municipality often looking to bigger cities for the purposes of such inspiration, whilst acknowledging that they are not the same type of city as these places. Finally being competitive is also not enough in itself, in that there is an attention-seeking aspect, in that both Denmark and Vejle would like to be
‘known’ for the sectors in which they are particularly competitive, and even be seen as a ‘model’ in certain areas.
Another point which is notable across the story-lines and institutionalisations in table 8.1 is the focus on specialisation. The story-line of internal competition at
the national level, through the metaphors of places as motors and places as having special identities, highlights a need for certain places to ‘create’ growth, as well as places specialising economically. Within Vejle Municipality, the story-line of attractiveness in particular emphasises specific people and specific businesses as particularly desirable for the municipality, alongside specific modes of development. This focus on specialising on certain people and certain business sectors is both speculative, in its relation to particular understandings of what will create economic growth in the future, and is also exclusive, in terms of those people and sectors which are not seen as important in this conception of the future. This point is related to the general concerns of much of the critical literature on neoliberalism, which I presented in chapter two.
I have shown empirically that competitiveness-oriented story-lines are institutionalised in some areas of national policy in Denmark and also in a single municipality based around a small city. I have also highlighted several issues here which reoccur in several of the empirical findings. Before I can move further with this, it is necessary to consider whether these empirical findings can be used to make broader conclusions. It is important to consider how this is possible methodologically by reflecting one final time on the research approach, and what this approach has given me the potential to say more widely.