Stuttgart Region

General

Situated at the heart of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart is the hub of economic, scientific, and political life in Southwest Germany. It is also the centre of a flourishing economy with its own administrative structure (Verband Region Stuttgart) and elected assembly.

The Stuttgart Region comprises the City of Stuttgart (the state capital) and the surrounding counties of Böblingen, Esslingen, Göppingen, Ludwigsburg, and Rems-Murr, with a total of 179 local authorities. Covering an area of 3,650 square kilometres, the region is only slightly larger than Luxembourg; but at 2.6 million, its population is six times larger. In fact, with 708 people per square kilometre, the Stuttgart Region is one of the most densely populated areas in Germany.

The Stuttgart Region enjoys a strong economy, providing a solid foundation for innovation and development. The region currently has Germany's highest density of scientific, academic and research organisations, and tops the national league for patent applications. The unemployment rate of only 4.8 percent is further evidence of the Stuttgart Region's exceptionally healthy economy.

Economy

The Stuttgart Region is one of Europe's most important and most successful economic centres. This is not only due to leading international companies, such as DaimlerChrysler, Porsche, Bosch, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, all of whom have their world or German headquarters here. There is a healthy mix of global players and highly versatile and dynamic medium-sized enterprises. Companies such as Behr, Kärcher, Märklin and Trumpf are known throughout the world for innovation and quality.

Innovation and Research

The Stuttgart Region has an excellent research infrastructure, including many leading universities and institutes working at the cutting edge of new technologies. Enterprises here invest more in R&D than anywhere else in the country, accounting for 10 percent of total expenditure by German industry. This creates a fertile environment for innovation.
In addition to the Universities of Stuttgart and Hohenheim, the region is home to the international Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology, nine universities of applied sciences, the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy, the Ludwigsburg College of Education, the Stuttgart University of Co-operative Education, the Stuttgart State Academy of Fine Arts, as well as six vocational training colleges. In fact, more than 61,000 students are currently enrolled on courses in almost all fields of study.

In addition to industrial R&D facilities, the Stuttgart Region has six institutes of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, four institutes for collaborative industrial research at local universities, two Max-Planck institutes, as well as one large-scale research centre - the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).
Local universities enjoy an excellent reputation - and justifyably so. Graduates are not only right up to date with all the very latest scientific developments, they also have hands-on practical experience gained at local companies. Close collaboration between universities, research establishments, and enterprises benefits all sides. It is not by coincidence that Eurostat figures show the Stuttgart Region to be Europe's leading area for high technology.
Start-ups and young technology-led businesses are grouped in close proximity at a number of technology parks and business incubation centres. A recently established network of regional competence and innovation centres offers further opportunities for up-and-coming enterprises to benefit from the strong infrastructure and positive business climate. The network also provides assistance and advice on market entry and collaborative projects.

Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation (WRS)

The Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation (Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH - WRS) was founded in 1995 by the Verband Region Stuttgart in co-operation with local authorities, trade unions, the various chambers representing commerce, industry, trades, and others, to fortify the position of the Stuttgart Region as an economically attractive location in national and international competition. The WRS aims to support the plans of businessmen and women interested in taking advantage of what the Stuttgart Region has to offer.

WRS supports the development and introduction of new technologies in enterprises and communities of the region. Especially in the field of mobility-technologies, integrated environmental engineering, regenerative energies and new information and communication technologies.
Furthermore, WRS assists in site procurement; experts aid companies in the search for a suitable commercial space. Location dialog is also furthered in that WRS helps establish contacts between the newcomers and already established businesses.
As an instrument in terms of a Regional Innovation Strategy the Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation (WRS) plays an active role in the development of regional competence and innovation centres and has supported several projects to promote and encourage the regional development. These integrated networks consist of 18 of the Stuttgart regions municipalities, more than 300 of its companies (mostly SMEs), and nearly 50 university institutes and research facilities. 17 regional competence centres focusing on well-defined fields - from fuel cell technologies to customer care and from internet-based services to solar power. The main objectives of these regional competence centres are to network the regional expertise and innovation by organising dialogue even between competitors focusing thematic respectively branch clusters.

Further information

• www.wrs-gmbh.de
• www.region-stuttgart.de
• www.rekiz.de