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The aim of this paper is to attempt to determine the influence of entrepreneurial zones in town of Valpovo on its urban competitiveness. Valpovo is a town in eastern Croatia which is located in Osijek-Baranja County. This town is still facing with such problems as lack of job opportunities, concentration of low-income families, inadequate public infrastructure and depopulation, which is becoming an increasing pro blem in Valpovo. One of the attempts to improve the economical circumstances in the town was the establishment of the entrepreneurial zones in Valpovo. These zones are comprised of a small enterprise zone, a business and an industrial zone. Statistical methods are used in order to investigate the influence of entrepreneurial zones of town of Valpovo on its urban competitiveness. Urban competitiveness is the ability of an urban area to use the factors of competitiveness in order to make a competitive position and maintain it among other urban areas. Urban competitiveness is often closely related to a town or city’s economic performance, which is the viewpoint applied by the authors. Thus measurement of competitiveness is accomplished by measuring its economic competitiveness, which is being determined through variables of town’s overall revenues, its revenues from taxes and the number of the unemployed. The analyzed data refer to the data collected before and after the establishment of the entrepreneurial zones. The analysis indicates that the influence of the entrepreneurial zones proves to be beneficial to some of the observed indicators. The entrepreneurial zones, however, do not provide an adequate boost to the urban competitiveness of Valpo vo, since economical problems it is faced with are still not being solved. In order to support the development and influence of the entrepreneurial zones on urban competitiveness of Valpovo, the local government must develop links among the key institutions, an entrepr eneurial spirit and a commitment to risk taking and risk sharing by its inhabitants. |
