Cities are full of potential, waiting to be unlocked.
More than 100 delegates gathered at the LGA’s London offices for our second annual urban summit in March.
This event, hosted by the LGA’s City Regions Board in conjunction with Core Cities, Key Cities and London Councils, brought together urban leaders, academics, policymakers and artists to discuss the future of cities.
The summit was kicked off by Andy Haldane, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and principal architect of the Levelling Up White Paper.
He set out the initial findings of the RSA’s UK Urban Futures Commission, including how UK cities lag behind their global competitors on productivity and growth, and highlighted the links between income and health disparities.
The packed agenda included: speakers from around the world sharing their international perspective on the future of cities; urban local government leaders on their own aspirations for their areas; and Alex Norris, Shadow Levelling Up Minister, on Labour’s plans to devolve more powers to cities.
There were also opportunities for our expert attendees to contribute. These conversations covered healthy cities, climate change, financing investment, and models for strong urban leadership.
These rich and in-depth conversations will feed into the next stage of the RSA’s commission, and the City Regions Board’s ongoing work on the future of cities.
At the summit, we launched a series of six videos, commissioned by the board to amplify the voices of those who live in our cities, so we could share their experiences of urban life and their hopes for the future.
These videos are on the LGA’s Future of Cities hub – see www.local.gov.uk/future-cities.
It was important that the summit brought together city leaders, as we’re never stronger than when we speak with one voice.
As Chair of the City Regions Board and Core Cities, I joined Cllr John Merry CBE, Chair of Key Cities, and Cllr Georgia Gould, Chair of London Councils, to sign an open letter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This set out our ambitious offer to government: that, with the right policies, finances and space to deliver, cities can produce better outcomes, not just for urban areas, but also for the whole country.
To empower cities, there are short-term changes that could make an immediate difference.
Cities need a shift away from the current system of costly competitive bidding. The next rounds of the Levelling Up Fund should be allocated on the basis of robust evidence of where crucial investment needs to go.
Urban areas should also be given the ability to plan, commission and oversee a joined-up employment and skills service. Introducing the LGA’s Work Local proposals could result in a £420 million benefit to the national economy (see www.local.gov.uk/work-local).
These short-term changes are necessary given the immediacy of the crises that cities face. However, to truly unlock the potential of our cities, we need a reset in the relationship between national and local government.
This would mean local leaders could truly level up their areas, working effectively with private and public partners to draw in vital investment.
The urban summit was the start – not the end – of a conversation about the future of cities.
Our next event – on 5 July, at the LGA’s annual conference in Bournemouth – will explore what this new relationship with government could look like. I hope to see many of you there.