In 2010 and 2011, the unemployment rate had stabilised at around 5% for Wroclaw, but it remained much higher for Lower Silesia (12.5% in 2011). Rapid economic growth has not remedied social and economic exclusion. Other challenges include tying down global mobile investment, raising the global competitiveness of indigenous businesses, securing the future of higher education in the city and defining Wroclaw’s role in the Polish national system of cities. While these European funds will continue to flow, a more strategic, innovation-oriented approach will be needed for the next programming period (starting in 2014), including better connection to the higher education system.