Secondary Growth Poles and Territorial Development in Europe: Performance, Policies and Prospects
The final report of the applied research project SGPTD is now online 
The policy debate about the role and contribution of capital and second tier cities will become more important during the next decade as economic recession and fiscal problems threaten to undermine the real achievements recently made by many second tier cities in Europe.
For policy makers at all government levels ‐ European, national, regional and city regional ‐ the message coming from this report is clear. Strong capitals matter to countries’ global positioning and competitiveness. However, strong second tier cities also matter.
Governments at all levels should help second tier cities so they can emerge from the current recession with more ‘investment ready’ places to maximize future national economic performance.
The individual circumstances of countries, regions and city regions will vary and so will policy responses. But some general principles about investment apply.
Specifically, governments should invest more in second tier cities when:
(i) the gap with capitals is large and growing
(ii) the business infrastructure of second tier cities is weak because of national underinvestment and
(iii) there is clear evidence about the negative externalities of capital city growth.
