Oslo is, in a word, compact. Here you will find everything you need within easy reach. But we do have a lot of room. Not only physical space for growth, but room for new ideas, for study, for innovation, for entrepreneurship – and for offering almost 5.000 live performances in a year. Being small, we also have short distances – from urban centres to quiet forests, from ski slopes to the waterfront, from the place you work to the place you live. In our informal, egalitarian society other distances are short as well – from people to power and from words to action.

Finally, Oslo is geared for the future. We are early adopters of new technology, we have a hot start-up scene, and we are Europe’s fastest growing capital, with a high and increasing ratio of young, well-educated people.

We happily admit that our city is small. But it is small in a very big way.

5.000 LIVE PERFORMANCES A YEAR

Oslo is hosting between 4.000-5.000 live performances a year. In the region moreover, 25 music festivals are arranged every year. This is in sharp contrast to what people outside Norway believe. The perception abroad is that “nothing much” happens on our cultural scene.

Oslo is a small capital by any standard, but still holds more shows per capita than any other city in Europe. We must tell the world about all the things happening here. Events and festivals must communicate internationally, and attach Oslo to their communication.

ONE OF EUROPES FASTEST GROWING CAPITALS

Oslo is one of the fastest growing capital cities in Europe, and the growth rate in the region as a whole is just as high. Unemployment is low, and the economy is healthy.

A WAVE OF YOUTH AGE 25-35

The population in Oslo is relatively youthful, and getting younger. A striking younger population wave is facing Norway, with a 23% growth of 25-35 year olds between 2014-2024. This trend is even more pronounced in Oslo and the whole region, with a potential 40% growth in this age group. Our population is amongst the highest educated in the world, and early adaptors of new technology.

All cities around the world have to attract young people, as they are the future. Yet no city has really developed a brand position that is tied to young people. As this strategy must benefit Oslo in the long run, a “young” brand position is valuable.

MODERN URBAN LIVING

Oslo is another type of capital than many others you find in Europe. Oslo does not rest on a colonial legacy, and 30 years ago you might say Oslo was a village (internationally speaking) – not a big city. We are building our distinctive metropolitan character as we speak. In the last 30 years, Oslo has grown by more than 200.000 inhabitants, without sacrificing cropland or forest. The population growth has not made the city worse, quite the contrary – according to Erling Dokk Holm. The city has improved in almost every area: better air quality, better schools, better transport and a more active city life.

Architecturally, Barcode, Tjuvholmen, the Opera house, Astrup Fearnly museum, the coming Munch museum and the Deichmanske Library all give us a new urban expression. Michelin star restaurants, food trucks, co-working spaces, world class coffee, international retail, and walking distances between nature and concrete all give Oslo a unique urban quality.

STRONG INTERNATIONAL BRANDS

The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Munch. International winter sport events. Opera (software). Kongsberg Innovation. Oslo Cancer Cluster. These are just a very few examples on strong international brands hosted by or originated in the Oslo region.

STARTUP HUB

The Nordic tech scene is hot, and Oslo has grown to become an internationally recognized startup hub. The city is full of co-working spaces, incubators and accelerators (for instance MESH, Startup Lab, FintechFactory, Tøyen Startup Village, 657, Oslo Cancer Cluster, and many more). Oslo startups are getting international recognition (Kahoot!, Gelato Group. Tapad. Xeneta. Unacast. To mention a very few).

500 Startups, a leading global venture capital seed fund and startup accelerator, chose Oslo as they entered the Nordics in 2015.

SHORT DISTANCES

Oslo is a compact city, the whole region is. Total commuting time is one of the lowest among competitive world cities, and this enables inhabitants to have a high quality of life.

Oslo has short distances. Between concrete and nature (after work, you can go sailing, snowboarding or hiking in no time – and public transport will take you there). Between family and career (you can have both). Between live performances (5.000 of them). Between people and power. Norway is an egalitarian society with flat hierarchies, and you are only a tweet away from power.

Oslo’s compactness is a unique quality, and we aim to make Oslo the world´s favourite compact city.

ACCESSIBLE

There are 116 international direct flights to OSL, and growing.

EDUCATED

The Oslo region has 37 universities and institutions.

MARITIME CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

Menon Economics ranks the 15 leading maritime capitals of the world in their bi-annual report. In 2017, Singapore is ranked as the leader, followed by Hamburg and Oslo. The the field of Maritime Technology, Oslo is ranked as number 1!

There are three main reasons behind Oslo’s success in Menon’s rankings.

• The first is a favourable regulatory climate that makes it simpler to both issue bonds and raise equity with less documentation.
• The second reason is the Norwegian investor community, which historically has shown both the experience and willingness to invest in shipping and offshore.
• The third driver, and perhaps the most important, is the high concentration of local shipping expertise. Oslo offers a complete maritime cluster in all areas.

Read the full report here.

INNOVATION

The Oslo region is Norway’s largest competence and industry region with 245,000 companies and 2.5 million inhabitants. The region has a large proportion of the country’s knowledge-intensive industries, and is otherwise an area with a very versatile combination of business and knowledge environments. This represents large resources and opportunities for innovation and new business development in several future-oriented areas.

The services sectors take home a dominant share of value creation and employment. In a national context, the region is the specialist within knowledge intensive business services, culture and culture experience industries, and commerce. A majority of the people employed in the services industries live in the Oslo labor market area.

The Oslo region has about 40 formal cluster or network organizations. Most of them operate in the fields of environmental and energy technology, bioeconomy, life sciences, and ICT systems. The region also has a large number of universities, colleges, and research institutes that conduct research which is of high relevance for businesses and the public sector. Several other innovation environments are also of importance. The public enterprise SIVA is co-owner of 32 innovation companies across the region. Smaller start-up environments have also contributed to a high start-up rate.

The most innovative industries measured in proportion of innovative companies, are found within knowledge intensive business services and in some industry sectors (chemical/pharmaceutical, computers/electronics, plastic products and metals). The majority of new establishments and net growth can be found within culture and experience industries, other private services, and knowledge intensive business services. This is largely due to new private establishments in the health care and educational sectors.

Based on international framework conditions and the Oslo region’s advantages, seven competence- and technology fields are especially relevant for the future competitiveness of the region:

1. Bioeconomy and circular economy
2. Life sciences, health- and welfare technology
3. ICT products and services for new applications in other industries / sectors / markets
4. Environmental technology, renewable energy and low-emission transport, sustainable construction
5. Sustainable experience industries and creative industries
6. Smart cities and regions
7. Sustainable processing industry

Three organisations was given the responsibility to manage and implement the strategy, by forming an Oslo Brand Alliance:

• VisitOSLO   /  Christian Lunde
• Oslo Business Region  /  Marianne Welle
• Oslo Region Alliance  / Øyvind Såtvedt

These institutions established resources central to the place brand management and cooperate with many regional and national bodies and organisations concerned with marketing of Oslo and Norway worldwide.

The existing division of labour amongst the three organisations:

• VisitOSLO: Marketing and promotion of Oslo; the Oslo Visitor Board
• Oslo Business Region: Promotion of the Oslo Region as a place to invest, start up, work, study and do R&D
• Oslo Region Alliance: Building regional pride and cooperation with regional organisations in business, transport, urban development

In April 2018, Oslo Brand Partners were founded. The mandate is to continue implementation of the strategy and to support strategic brand project in the Oslo Region. Oslo Brand Partners is a collaboriation of over 30 municipalities dedicated to show the world what the region has to offer.

The Oslo Region Brand Management Strategy is the foundation of this toolbox. The strategy process involved almost 1.000 people from private business and public, from culture, academia, and organizations. Take a closer look at the Oslo brand and the strategic choices made, and learn from other cities.

The Oslo Region Brand Management Strategy

Attractiveness is an indicator for international competitiveness. In order to find out how attractive the world really finds Oslo, we commissioned Greg Clark and Tim Moonen of the Business of Cities Group in London to do ”An outside in view of Oslo.”
Oslo: State of the city surveys more than 100 international city indexes in order to identify Oslo’s current performance and reputation in 16 areas within four overarching themes; Business, Liveability, Hospitality, and Governance. It evaluates Oslo’s performance along a 10-point scale and compares progress to the 2016 Oslo: State of the city.

Oslo: State of the city 2018
Oslo: State of the city 2017
Oslo: State of the city 2016

Here you can read all about the projects done, and the results achieved.

Annual Report 2016

Annual Report 2017

Annual Report 2018

Study and science

All ambitious young people, all around the world face tough choices. What to study? Where? Which academic standards? A number of factors will influence the decision, and Oslo is in a strong position to score well in many of them.

The general quality of higher education in Norway is first-rate, and we have the rankings to prove it – among them U-Multirank and the business education rankings of the Financial Times. But there is more to it: Several bachelor’s and master’s degree programs are taught in English, and with 8.500 foreign students (from a total of 67.000 in Oslo and Akershus), Oslo is a student and science city with a truly international outlook.

Furthermore, as education is a priority in Norway, there are a number of facilities and offerings for students in general and international students in particular. Affordable accommodation is guaranteed for foreign nationals with an admission to study. Tuition is free at public universities and colleges, only an administrative fee is charged. In many cases, student loans and grants are attainable. Day-care is available for all children. And public transport and a number of other offerings are discounted. All in all, the Oslo region can be seen as a convenient campus with high academic standards.

But we need to get our message out there – that the Oslo region has excellent universities and colleges in fields as diverse as agro ecology, biomechanics, finance and nano electronics. Here is a map you can use in your communication.

View map

Leisure and culture

For young people, even the most ambitious ones, there is more to life than studies. You remember, right? Those student years are often remembered as the best of one’s life, and the more various experiences they can hold, the better. The attractiveness of extracurricular activities (the academic word for fun and leisure) will almost always influence the choice of where to study. Which is very good for Oslo, because we have a lot to offer.

The problem is; the world believes that not much is happening in Oslo on the cultural scene… You need to get the story out there!

The city’s cultural muscles are much bigger than its size implies, with a large number of events, sites, galleries and close to 5.000 live performances every year, more than double that of Stockholm and Copenhagen. Oslopolitans are becoming aware of this, and many share their local favourites with the world. Here is a guide from Bakken & Bæck (a digital studio), maybe you will find some inspiration. VisitOSLO is also a great source on what’s happening. New local guides are born every month, so just Google it, whenever you need interesting stuff to share with the world. Something is always going on in the Oslo region!

Then of course, there is our great outdoors, with all the possibilities the surroundings offer, from sports to recreation. Beaches in summer, ski slopes in winter and everything in between. All of it within easy reach in our very compact city region. We often take this proximity to nature for granted. In an international perspective; this is unique, and very attractive.

Norwegian society

Oslo wants people to stay after finishing their studies and we have a competitive edge. In an egalitarian, transparent society where talent, education and innovation are taken seriously, ambitious young people have excellent opportunities to thrive.

For starting a career, the local job market is very beneficial. Blue-chip international businesses, ambitious Scandinavian and Norwegian firms, hot start-ups and business incubators are all in place, as well as a comprehensive public sector. An egalitarian mindset ensures flat hierarchies and equal opportunities everywhere.

For further learning and research, there are several centres of excellence and specialized clusters, such as the Oslo Cancer Cluster.

All in all, as capital of an affluent welfare state, Oslo is a very safe, stable and comfortable environment for studies, research and work life.