The Role and Potential of English Medium-Sized Cities ESRC Seminar Series Regenerating Medium-Sized Cities Keele University 26 th November 2009 Paul Hildreth Policy Fellow, SURF P.A.Hildreth@salford.ac.uk
Agenda Foundations Typology of Medium-Sized Cities Why places (Medium-Sized Cities) are different? Implications for urban and regional policy Conclusions
1. Medium-sized cities State of English cities minus London and Core Cities 2. Typology helpful but with limitations 3. Cities are not islands cities do not stand alone, but relate to other cities and places and the wider urban system 4. Dynamic not static - Developing a dynamic not static understanding of cities and place Basic foundations 5. People and place people and place integrated 6. An evolving journey Typology of cities Dynamics of place New regional policy City Links City Relationships
1. The Observation Test Craven Harrogate York What do you see: 1. Individual towns and cities? OR 2. A pattern of inter-dependent towns and cities within a city-region? Even or complex Bradford Calderdale Leeds Selby Kirklees Wakefield Barnsley Represents the administrative city Used in HMT, DTI and ODPM (2006) Represents the physical city of Leeds Represents the travel-to-work area as an indication of the city-region
Generalised differences - large and mediumsized cities City A - Large City B Medium-sized or small city Urbanisation economies Products evolving and less standard Specialisation - R&D incubation and new firm creation Workforce Larger, better educated, more specialised Sectoral - Strong in knowledge-based services Markets - Large and more diversified Localisation economies Products more standardised Specialisation more established products Workforce Smaller, less educated and specialised Sectoral Stronger in manufacturing and weaker in advanced services Markets - Smaller and less diversified Source Henderson (1997)
Typology of Medium-Sized Cities
Challenges Traditional specialist industrial base Historic division of labour with specialist skills and low entrepreneurial culture Difficulty developing a knowledge-based services economy Opportunities Work on the basics local skills, employment and entrepreneurial culture Find new niches that build on local skill and knowledge base Develop quality of life and place assets Seek a post-industrial future Dortmund, Germany Source: wm2006.deutschland.de Industrial cities Tampere, Finland Source: www.pinguim.net Stoke on Trent, UK Source: www.picturesofengland.com
Gateway Challenges Diversifying beyond industries that support gateway function Low skill base Becoming a final destination rather than a transit point Opportunities Good national and/or international connectivity Exploiting opportunities provided by the gateway function to develop other industries Liverpool, UK Source: Source: Northwest Regional Development Agency Bari, Italy Source: www.hotelitaliani.it
Challenges Heritage/tourism Market - local, national or international? Seasonal tourism and changing fashions National and international connectivity Lower skilled, part-time and seasonal employment base Diversifying economic base Santiago de Compostela, Spain Source www.spanish-living.com Opportunities Heritage assets Use existing heritage/tourism assets to diversify into other service industries National and international markets Blackpool, UK Source: Source: www.hotelnet.co.uk
Challenges University knowledge Disseminating innovation/knowledge Managing growth pressures Possible employment gap for lower skilled workers Opportunities Highly educated and skilled workforce Cambridge, UK Source: www.cam.ac.uk Clusters of high-tech industry/services Incubators for R&D and spin-off companies Exploiting heritage assets Reciprocal relationship with regional, national and international economy Coimbra, Portugal Source: www.home-planet.nl
Challenges Transition from industrial past Tackling social inequality arising from economic restructuring Regional services Bristol, UK Improving national and international connectivity Opportunities Relatively diverse economy with developing modern service industry Rich asset base e.g. university, city centre, heritage Destination rather than transit point Advantages in attracting or retaining highly-skilled workforce Dijon Source: ww.riis.org Pécs, Hungary Source: www.trendsettereurope.org
City in a capital/large city-region Challenges Managing growth pressures e.g. housing and congestion Developing service sectors complementary to those of capital/large city Developing own identity/market niche Opportunities Cheaper location Proximity to large dynamic economy e.g. employment and economic opportunities Strong international, national and local connectivity Principal business connections in the London city-region, showing polycentric relationships e.g. Reading Southampton, Milton Keynes Southampton Source: Polynet
e.g. Hull, Grimsby The Big Picture Regional trends towards.. Gateway Industrial Heritage/tourism Regional Services City in large cityregion University/ knowledge e.g. Bradford, Blackburn, Barnsley, Stoke-on-Trent e.g. Blackpool, Worthing, Bath e.g. Exeter, Bristol, Leeds, Gloucester, Norwich e.g. Reading, Aldershot e.g. Cambridge, Oxford North and Midlands Lower knowledge-intensive employment Higher primary employment Fewer graduates More with no formal qualifications Lowest pay Labour productivity is low South Higher knowledge-intensive employment Higher service employment More graduates Fewer with no formal qualifications Highest pay Labour productivity is high Source: Hildreth (2007)
Why places (Medium-Sized Cities) are different?
People are part of place People our characteristics make opportunity a possibility Place but opportunities are realised in place The built and green environment Source: www.sheffield.gov.uk Firms Source: CABE Place assets People Communications Source: CABE Culture Knowledge institutions Institutions and governance
TTW area Harrogate Bradford Kirklees Barnsley Sheffield Tyneside Leeds York Wakefield Doncaster Rotherham Newcastle Sunderland Teeside Hull Milton Keynes Policy Implications North South or more complex Internal structural External relationships Cambridge London Towns and cities (or parts of) with higher increasing return industrial sectors Towns and cities with lower increasing return industrial sectors Reading Unequal Geography Brighton Hastings
Why places are different History is important in influencing future economic and social development Cotton industry, Burnley Source: www.weaverstriangle.co.uk Stoke-on-Trent Source: www.ceramike.com/stoke Hastings Source: www.ukstudentlife.com
Why places are different Connectivity City A - Large City B Medium-sized or small city City connectivity International connectivity (airport) Poor internal connectivity - Stoke on Trent Inter-city connectivity (road and rail) Local connectivity (functionality of place Good internal connectivity - Barcelona
Original City Links Hypothesis City A - Large City B Medium-sized or small city Advanced Producer Services Source: http://www.airninja.com/ City Centre Housing Source: http://www.urbandesignco mpendium.co.uk/ Producer Services Source: http://www.apexplaza.co.uk/ or advanced manufacturing Higher paid worker Source: http://img.dailyma il.co.uk/ Source: Ivor Samuels - http://www.cabe.org.uk/ Complementary relationship B to A Less complementary relationship B to A Specialist expert Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Lower paid worker Source: BBC Traditional manufacturing Low cost housing
Proximity and economic relationship to other cities are important, due to interdependencies between cities within the national urban hierarchy Why places are different Complex network of commuting flows in the London city-region Source: Hall and Pain, Polynet Functional Spatial Clusters and the North Source: Roles and Economic Functions of the City Regions of the North, IPEG and CUPS, The Northern Way
City A Economic centre City B Neighbouring town / city City A travel to work area City B travel to work area A A B B 1. Independent 2. Isolated Why places are different: role of labour markets Labour market patterns reflect other factors: Industrial structure Housing quality Skills and Earnings Deprivation Also, connectivity and possibly quality of place City A Economic centre City A travel to work area City B travel to work area A A City B Neighbouring town / city 3. Dependent B 4. Interdependent B
Liverpool City Region
Questions? Tirana, Albania What are the relationships between people and firm movements and location to spatial patterns? How do density, functionality; connectivity impact on economic and social variables? At what levels should we seek to understand them: Where I live (neighbourhood)? How I am governed (local authority)? How the economy works (sub-region/cityregion)? What matters most and why? : street layout, buildings, locational factors (e.g. access to water, city centre) and quality Stoke-on-Trent, North Staffordshire Why places are different?
Relationships between cities: Stoke on Trent: the shadow effect Manchester South Stoke-on- Trent Key TTWA movements Net migration movements Towns and cities (or parts of) with higher increasing return industrial sectors Towns and cities with lower increasing return industrial sectors North Staffs - Travel to work patterns Source: The Work Foundation Birmingham Sources: Philip McCann, Henry Overman et al, Paul Cheshire et al and The Work Foundation
Why understanding flows are important - Central Lancashire City Region case study To Glasgow Key: Cities with characteristics of Tourism/Heritage Regional Services Industrial M6 Travel-to-work area I r i s h Blackpool M55 Rail Ribble Valley Burnley S e a Preston Blackburn M65 Note brown arrows indicate direction of main travel-to-work movements M61 To Manchester To London Airport Greater Manchester
Implications for Urban Policy Old view? Emerging view? Place is not important and cities are invisible * (focus on problems) Places are distinctive and different (focus on opportunity) * Source: May and Marvin 2003 Individual places ( Places as islands surrounded by open sea ) Particular geography (e.g. neighbourhood) Static analysis (independent drivers of growth) No principles about how places work, it is about drivers Inter-dependent places Overlapping geography (e.g. functional economy) Dynamic analysis (inter-dependent drivers of growth) Developing framework about how places work ( patterns ) that shape people and firm movement and concentration
Implications for Urban and Regional Policy Source: inspired by Professor Philip McCann The world is flat - national or local institutional solutions (e.g. Prod in UK: 3) The world is spiky single spike London and South East (e.g. major investment decisions) The world is spiky multiple spikes London, Manchester, Glasgow etc (e.g. City Relationships)
Conclusions Typology helpful with limitations A spiky world (how spiky ) and a flat world Medium-sized cities: structural and relationship factors Labour markets seem key in interpreting place Integrating different concepts of place Governance challenges Horizontal Vertical Leadership Governance Bigger challenges for sub-national economic development model