Committee for Adelaide report reveals Adelaide’s lack of vibrancy, innovation is holding the city back

Adelaide has been measured against 19 mid-sized global cities in a new study, and while our city scores highly on liveability there are two crucial missing links. Do you agree?

Adelaide is praised for its arts scene but struggles to compete for world-class “experiences”. Picture: Brad Griffin

Adelaide is well placed to capitalise on the rise of mid-sized cities in the wake of Covid-19, but a new injection of vibrancy and innovation is needed to compete in the global war for the best and brightest, a major study says.

According to new global research Adelaide scores highly for liveability, affordability and the strength of the city’s arts scene, but rates poorly on benchmarks around innovation, vibrancy and transport.

Released on Tuesday, the Benchmarking Adelaide 2023 report compares the city against 19 peer cities of a similar size, on measures ranging from innovation, skills, transport, liveability and reputation.

Measured against cities including Austin, Valencia, Cape Town, Muscat and Auckland, Adelaide ranks third for business and investment dynamics and fifth for liveability, affordability and well-being.

But it lags most other cities when it comes to innovation and vibrancy – ranking 15th in terms of innovation and R&D, and 16th for amenity, vibrancy and experience.

Adelaide is highly regarded for its arts scene. Picture: Brad Griffin

Adelaide ranks around the middle of the pack on other metrics around transport and infrastructure, skills and talent, sustainability, global visibility and perception.

The report, compiled by British urban consultancy The Business of Cities, was commissioned by Committee for Adelaide and its partners JLL, Deloitte, RAA and Hames Sharley.

It says the city’s relatively low cost of doing business and emerging industries such as artificial intelligence were attracting interest from global investors, but a lack of funding available to start-ups and a failure to convert research into commercial opportunities was holding back the city’s economy.

Innovation districts such as Lot Fourteen, Tonsley and BioMed City could act as “flagships” showcasing the city’s capabilities, the report says, backed by the merger of the universities of Adelaide and South Australia, which could drive innovation across industries.

Adelaide has been ranked against 19 peer cities including Austin, Bilbao and Cape Town. Picture: Benchmarking Adelaide 2023

“Adelaide excels for scientific research but would improve over a wider set of innovation measures if the university merger and wider public policies could achieve higher collaboration with industry, more access to late stage capital, smoother public sector procurement and decision making, more speed and scale for foundational projects, and effective incentives to innovate throughout the whole innovation value chain,” the report says.

“The merger of Adelaide’s two largest universities creates a big chance for reputational and societal impacts.

“Becoming perceived as a city of opportunity to scale is key to retaining and maximising talent. Otherwise many firms may continue to move to other cities.”

Austin, Texas is a mid-sized city that ranks highly for innovation, skills and global reputation.

Committee for Adelaide chief executive Sam Dighton said the report reinforces Adelaide’s reputation as a great place to live and work, but also identifies weaknesses that are “holding back our true economic and social potential”.

He said Adelaide’s labour productivity was tracking nearly 20 per cent lower than peer cities.

“Crucially, the report highlights that Adelaide’s economic productivity is lagging that of its comparable international peers, and we have a lower share of jobs in high-wage, knowledge-rich sectors,” he said.

“We should not shy away from the challenges that face us, and this report provides a fresh perspective on the opportunities to guide our city’s reinvention and how we can capitalise on our advantages in key industries to attract and retain talent.”

Amenity, vibrancy and experience is another area identified as a weakness in the report.

While Adelaide is considered a “hub of festivals, music and film”, and ranks second for its contemporary arts scene, the city is not yet seen as a leader for the “highest rated” experiences, the report says.

“Adelaide is a gastronomy and festival capital and still has great potential to deliver on its ‘boutique’ promise through placemaking and amenity,” the report says.

“But currently this area emerges as a strategic weakness for Adelaide in an international context. The scale of the urban cultural and creative economy is also behind. Given the role culture and vibrancy have in talent attraction, this area could affect many of Adelaide’s wider economic ambitions.

Tonsley Innovation District.

“Adelaide is sometimes penalised by global benchmarks that still look at absolute size and volume rather than quality or participation. The main ways that mid-sized cities tend to overcome this disadvantage is through compelling stories, sub-cultures, neighbourhoods or signature designs that attract international interest.”

In terms of amenity, an “inefficient” level of car dependence and failure to densify the city has left Adelaide at the bottom of the pack for walkability, quality of the cycling network and commute times.

The report says that while many people around the world are aware of South Australia’s world-class wine regions, natural environment and quality of life, the city is not currently recognised as a dynamic place for business, careers, innovation and creativity.

“Adelaide seems to lack a business brand,” it says.

“The data points to Adelaide’s relatively under-developed identity around innovation, enterprise, creativity, cultural expression and climate responsibility.

“Cities that have improved in terms of brand perception and global appeal have tended to build a clear unified identity that spans visitors, entrepreneurs, business, students and investors.”

OPINION: Making Adelaide a global leader

by Sam Dighton, chief executive of the Committee for Adelaide

Adelaide is a great city but at the Committee for Adelaide we believe it can be even greater.

To do so means building on the strengths that make our city a global leader but to also recognise, identify and confront challenges that are holding back our potential.

Globally cities are striving to reinvent and re-engineer their economies in the aftershock of the pandemic. Governments around the world are seeking the best and brightest to sustain their recoveries.

So how can Adelaide position itself as an attractive and dynamic city where people want to work, live and play?

That is the question we have sought to answer with our inaugural Benchmarking Adelaide report which provides important insight into how Greater Adelaide fares in comparison with other global peers.

Committee for Adelaide chief executive Sam Dighton. Picture: James Elsby

In many ways this snapshot reinforces Adelaide’s assets – our enviable lifestyle, affordability, world-acclaimed arts scene, our lower cost of doing business.

Against comparable cities internationally we have advantages in demographics, momentum to decarbonise and our expertise in high value industries of space, defence, advanced manufacturing and health position Adelaide as a city of opportunity.

But opportunity can be spurned if we don’t address our limitations.

The report echoes recent comments in this paper by SA Productivity Commission Chairman Adrian Tembel that Adelaide’s – and by extension SA’s – productivity and wages are lagging. We have a lower share of high-wage and knowledge-rich sectors.

Concerted efforts by government have made strong progress in fostering globally innovative companies but venture capital funding and our share of start-ups reaching late-stage growth is behind our peers.

The affordability and liveability that we often trumpet is eroding with other cities catching up to Adelaide in areas such as health and wellbeing, walkable neighbourhoods and access to, and protection of, green space.

We believe this report – which we hope will be the first of many for the Committee for Adelaide - can help spark discussion about how we can build on our advantages but keep learning from the international experiences of others.

Everyone has a role to play in shaping the future prosperity and prospects of our city; we look forward to the conversation and collaboration.