Bringing the economic performance of the UK’s major regional cities up to that of their European peers could add £100 billion or around 5 per cent to the nation’s GDP each year.
So says a new report from the UK Urban Futures Commission, which also found that unleashing cities’ potential could lift 250,000 people out of unemployment, 1.2 million out of poverty and increase healthy life expectancy by up to eight years.
The commission – led by the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, in partnership with Core Cities UK, which represents cities including Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff – found there is still much to do to ensure such cities reach their full potential.
Cllr Satvir Kaur, Chair of the LGA’s City Regions Board, said: “Cities have a long and proud history of being at the forefront of economic growth and development in our country and every area of the UK should have a globally competitive city.
“As this report rightly highlights, too many of our urban areas have fallen behind our European peers, and city leaders need to be trusted with the powers and flexible funding to realise their full potential, including being able to reinvest what they raise locally.
“Given the right policies, finances and space to deliver, cities can boost our productivity, tackle our inequalities and reach our climate ambitions, not just for urban areas but for the whole country.”