The third edition of the 'European Cities Entrepreneurship Ranking', which identifies the most attractive cities for starting a business, was published yesterday (10 May).
This year's overall winner is Frankfurt, followed by the Swedish city of Malmö and Polish capital Warsaw. Other cities among the top ten include Hamburg, Berlin, Lisbon, Helsinki, Cologne, Lyon and Stuttgart.
The survey, compiled by ECER, an economic development initiative for the territories, ranks a total of 37 cities in 18 countries according to entrepreneurs' satisfaction with public and private policies that promote business creation. The 2010 ranking is based on a survey of 4,500 business leaders.
Separate city rankings are compiled for five criteria: promotion of business creation, pre-creation support such as start-up advice, post-creation support, access to funding and the business environment.
Individual rankings for each category vary, but "there are towns that always remain on top," said Olivier Torrès, president of the ECER foundation association.
He said that the top ten tend to have a lot in common and the next group of ten or so cities also share similarities, as do the bottom ten.
The survey shows that while Northern European countries consistently record high 'satisfaction scores' from businessmen, southern cities like Athens, Rome and Milan score low in business friendliness.
But there are other north-south differences as well, Torrès said.
A business created in the south tends to generate fewer jobs than a business created in the north, he argued. Moreover, entrepreneurs in the south often start their business outside major urban centres, while most start-ups in the north are established in cities, he explained.
Torrès hopes the survey results will prompt local authorities and city delegations visit the high-ranking cities to learn about best practices in creating a friendly environment for new businesses in trade, industry and services.
