THE RETURN OF WHOSE CITY Reflections on Planning, Housing and Regeneration

1
THE RETURN OF WHOSE CITY?Reflections on
Planning, Housing and Regeneration

• Professor Sir Peter Hall
• IFHP
• Liverpool
• 2 June 2008

2
A New Geography of English Cities

• 3 Divides
• North-South since the 1930s
• Core Cities v. the rest of the North since the
  1990s
• Core City centres v. isolated estates since 2000?

3
N/S Divide A Continuing Theme
4
The Continuing N-S Gap

• Regional Futures (Arup 2005)
• GVA/head gap persists - because
• North poor in
• private services
• North dependent on public services
• Maps Golden Belt versus Rustbelt (Archipelago
  Economy)

5
The Continuing N-S Gap

• N-S Split
• New firms fewer in N
• State of the Cities 2006
• GVA/head lower, poverty higher
• But Core Cities special
• Old industrial towns/resorts at bottom of heap
• Getting worse?

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South East England Mega-City Region
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GaWC Hierarchy (Taylor 2004)
A. ALPHA WORLD CITIES   12 LONDON, Paris, New
York, Tokyo 10 Chicago, Frankfurt , Hong Kong,
Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore  
B. BETA WORLD CITIES   9 San Francisco,
Sydney, Toronto, Zürich 8 Brussels, Madrid,
Mexico City, São Paulo 7 Moscow, Seoul
European cities in italics U.K. cities
CAPITALISED
8
The GaWC Hierarchy (ctd.)
C. GAMMA WORLD CITIES   6 Amsterdam, Boston,
Caracas, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Geneva, Houston,
Jakarta, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Osaka, Prague,
Santiago, Taipei, Washington 5 Bangkok,
Beijing, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw 4 Atlanta,
Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Budapest,
Copenhagen, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur,
Manila, Miami, Minneapolis, Montreal, München,
Shanghai
9
The GaWC Hierarchy (ctd.)
D. EVIDENCE OF WORLD CITY FORMATION  
Di Relatively strong evidence   3 Auckland,
Dublin, Helsinki, Luxembourg, Lyon, Mumbai, New
Delhi, Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro, Tel Aviv,
Wien
Dii Some evidence   2 Abu Dhabi, Almaty,
Athens, BIRMINGHAM, Bogota, Bratislava, Brisbane,
Bucharest, Cairo, Cleveland, Köln, Detroit,
Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City, Kiev, Lima, Lisbon,
MANCHESTER, Montevideo, Oslo, Rotterdam, Riyadh,
Seattle, Stuttgart, Den Haag, Vancouver  
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UK Cities in Europe and the WorldLatest GaWC
Evidence (1)
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UK Cities in Europe and the WorldLatest GaWC
Evidence (2)
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North vs. North?
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Cities stemming population loss
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aided by Studentification
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Renaissance of the CBD Fringe (1) Manchester
Hulme
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Renaissance of the CBD Fringe (2)New East
Manchester
17
Middle-Ring Cultural RenaissanceManchester,
Salford Quays
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End of the Renaissance?

• Buy-to-leave 670,000 empty homes, 300,000
  long-term
• Joey Gardiner (RR, 31 August 2007) Central
  Leeds 20 empty
• Similar stories Manchester, Salford, Birmingham,
  Hull, London
• Manchester up to 40 (Ron Hack, Ecotec)
• London 70 bought off-plan

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Core v. Non-Core Cities
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Core v. Non-Core Cities progress?
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Geography of Multiple Deprivation2004 and 2007
Source Local Futures, Deprivation Barometer, 2008
22
IMD Greater Manchester 2004-2007
Change 2004-2007 (Redworse)
2004
2007
Source AGMA PR Unit 2008
23
Drilling Down the Deprivation ChartCities and
Neighbourhoods
Source Local Futures, Deprivation Barometer, 2008
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Most Deprived Neighbourhoods
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House prices/earnings 1999, 2006
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Pathfinder Area Elevate East Lancashire
(Burnley/Nelson/Colne)
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North v. North Cities v. Countryside
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City RegionsAccessing the Core City
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City Regionsand Periphery (not quite,
actually!)
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Northern Way City RegionsWhat Region? What
Strategy?

• The North An archipelago economy?
• How reclaim the land (spread the jam?)
• Better transport? extend core city commuter
  area? (Manchester Metrolink)
• Devise bespoke solutions for each place? very
  difficult
• Problem of remoter places (Burnley, Hull, Ebbw
  Vale!)

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Reinventing Places Burnley

• Anthony Wilson, Yvette Livesey
• Redevelop Canalside buildings (Weavers Triangle)
• Fashion Tower
• Attract artists and other creative young people
• Football-based tourism
• Pennine Playground - tourist attractions,extreme
  sports
• New town centre public spaces
• International Events

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Unanswered Questions

• Geography Can N-S gap be closed?
• Grow the S into the Midlands?
• Shrink the N-S gap?
• Grow the City Regions?
• A crazy idea for everywhere?
• (How many ideas to go round?)
• Need for a new style of planning!