Greater power should be devolved to ëcity regionsí

Britain needs to liberate its leading cities to drive economic growth forward by gradually granting them powers to become ëcity regionsí ñ co-ordinating economic expansion and policy development both within and beyond traditional city boundaries, the Work Foundation says today.

A new report calls for thriving cities such as Manchester and Bristol to be granted greater governance powers over such issues as transport, strategic planning, housing and skills. These cities could then co-ordinate local policies to match up better with citizensí travel-to-work and travel-to-leisure patterns.

In addition, the report calls for a new vision for Britainís medium sized cities ñ places such as Stoke-on-Trent, Wakefield or Norwich, so often overlooked locations for policy-makers. These cities should be encouraged to think strategically about how they can complement city regions, or each other, but still have a distinctive offer ñ perhaps as ëtourism citiesí, or ëquality of life citiesí.

Elsewhere, in areas where medium-sized cities are located close to each other ñ as with Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, for example ñ they should aim to collaborate to cut down on wasteful competition, secure economies of scale, and to access sources of funding. The report says both investors and residents have more to gain from cities acting as a network rather than rival centres.

Regarding the future of Regional Development Agencies, the report argues RDAs are central to the city-region concept. Their role should be one of brokering relationships between different locations, and co-ordinating the strategies of city regions and medium sized cities.

ëWhatís missing from policy-making is a sense of place,í said Alexandra Jones, associate director at The Work Foundation, and lead author of the report, Enabling Cities in the Knowledge Economy. ëWhen cities are vibrant and dynamic, positive things start happening to entire regions of the country far outside the city itself. But at the moment policy-making is too centralised and may be acting as a barrier to growth.

ëCity-regions reflect the real economic geography of the country ñ how people actually live their lives. People criss-cross administrative boundaries every day, and granting cities greater powers to determine their own destiny would enable them to develop policies that reflect how people actually live.í

She added: ëSome of our medium sized cities have already recognised that their best hope for the future lies in forging links ñ both with core cities in the region and with other neighbouring cities and smaller towns. The ability of these cities to develop strong relationships and act together needs to be nurtured as we move to a more knowledge-based economy in which the connections between different places take on much greater importance.í

The report finds:

Administrative revolution in local government should be avoided. City regional structures should be allowed to develop gradually after local authorities have proved they can collaborate effectively through the principle of ëearned autonomyí. City region status should be granted only where there is a compelling business case.

City-regional structures will need new governance arrangements, and whilst these should not be imposed, they must be required to ensure democratic legitimacy and leadership. In the short-term, executive boards or cabinets may be suitable.

Regional Development Agencies have a vital role to play. Their role should evolve towards supporting and co-ordinating city-region based development strategies, and helping medium sized cities collaborate effectively with core cities and with each other.

Not every big city is ready to be a city-region and cities should be allowed to move at different speeds and have varying powers. The closer a city is to being an ëideopolisí ñ that is, a city with a high concentration of high skilled, high technology industries and workers who rely on access to knowledge to do their jobs - the more it will find city region status economically and culturally beneficial.

Regional policy-making should be done at the most appropriate level. Some issues are local (such as street cleaning); some are city-regional (such as transport).

Without greater co-ordination, some previously industrial medium sized cities face a bleak future and are likely to remain excluded from sources of economic growth.