Policies towards Place Attraction and Policies for Place Retention

Summary: One important distinction is between places that are attractive to people or firms; and places that are capable of retaining those talents who moved there at an earlier stage. Attraction and retention involve different elements: the characteristics of city-regions may serve attraction or retention functions, but not always the two simultaneously. Therefore, different policies may have to be developed for these different purposes. The significance of place may have become even more important because of the fact that better connections between places across the world have become more common. 'Classic' conditions, such as accessibility and connectedness are increasingly fulfilled in the globalised world and, because of that, unique place characteristics that distinguish one city from others may become increasingly important.