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GROWTH BEYOND THE BIG CITIES
Thursday 19 March 2015Ed Cox, Director, IPPR North @edcox_ippr
OECD: Drivers of future growth
• Highlighting new OECD research on Promoting Growth in All Types of Region
• Key growth drivers for fast-growing intermediate regions:– Skills & mobilisation of the labour force– Innovation and the business environment– Infrastructure & connectivity– Strong and stable institutions & policies
• Underpinned by access to finance
Framework for Northern Prosperity
Decentralisation Decade
• A call for a ‘decentralisation decade’– 10-year programme – whole-of-government approach– 40 powers and responsibilities to the appropriate tiers– Fiscal devolution as a central plank – 5-year settlements, tax and
independent body– New wave of combined authorities with enhanced accountability– Strengthening the constitutional status of sub-national government
• Between the devil and the deep blue sea
Problems with the big city narrative
• Agglomeration and the big global hubs myth / groupthink• Urban hierarchies and the problem with PUAs• Overlapping geographies and the distinctive and
complementary role of place
Sheffield City Region is weakly monocentric. There are other centres of employment within the city region such as Chesterfield and Doncaster, but these are not as productive as Sheffield and attract far fewer commuters, making Sheffield the principal economic centre of the city region. However, the city region is weakly monocentric because Sheffield does not exert as strong a ’pull’ as Manchester.
Source: Centre for Cities
The problems of smaller towns & cities
Stigma / Image
So what for Small and Medium-sized cities (SMCs)?
1. Building economic resilience
• Playing into / challenging the narrative– Mitigating costs and risks – welfare / public services– Building national resilience / rebalancing at lower tier
• Adopting a long-term approach• Addressing low skills base
Localisation of skills funding / systemLinks to FE / HE / businessesResilience as core responsibility of LEPs / CAs
3. Enhancing connectivity
• Different places, different issues– Connections to core cities – ‘commuter towns’– Logistics hubs– Digital connectivity
Local economic strategies – big focus on collaborative actionTransport for the North / transport devolution
Transport for the North Governance
4. Addressing institutional weaknesses • Importance of stability & continuity• Problems with LEPs and Combined Authorities
– Underbounded geography– Lack of accountability– Lack of capacity– SMC lack of contact with central government
Review of LEP / CA geographyNew wave of CAs and more systematic approach to devolutionEnhanced local leadership & civic engagementResearch / analysis / evaluation
Summary
• Challenging the narrative but not cutting off our noses to spite our faces– Northern Powerhouse plus– Multi-speed devolution across the board– Getting behind new political voices
• Leading not pleading – learning from the core cities– Better analysis – making the economic case– Better local planning & promotion– Collaboration with core cities
