Capitalising on change in a globalising world

These are powerful times. Fundamental change is around the corner, but the concrete manifestations are unpredictable. Past trends will, less than ever, be a reliable orientation for desirable action. Adopting familiar game plans, reinforcing standard procedures and implementing strategies which were successful in the good old days of the second half of the 20th century are no longer a guarantee for an adequate solution. And even if they seem to alleviate a problem in the short term, they may lay the roots for failure in the longer term. What is needed in such a situation is the enhancement of resilience to facilitate the absorption of the unexpected and the unforeseeable; strengthening of the capacity to adjust innovatively and flexibly to rapidly changing political, economic, social and technological circumstances; and, in the political arena, to stretch what interest groups and the public believe is socially acceptable and thus politically feasible. This is the lesson to be learned from the 2,000 year long history of globalisation and the story of one city, Hamburg, which for 1,000 years has successfully remained on the side of the winners.