Towns are now in the policy spotlight.The reasons for this are all too clear: Brexit; the productivity puzzle; economic inequality; the decline of traditional high streets; and, a concern about what this means for local and national culture and identity.
That is why we’ve written ‘Our Towns’. It comes from the work we’ve done with towns across the country over the last couple of years, and a desire to distil what we’ve learned, and share it with people working in and with towns.
In what is the most centralised developed democracy in the world, economic and political devolution needs to be a generation long project, so when it comes to empowering even our cities we are still only at the beginning of the journey. So there is a strong case to also look at policy for towns. How can they thrive? How can they provide opportunities and be great places to live? And what should devolution mean for them?
Towns are very different places from cities and they don’t exist in isolation. So our report argues that towns must be allowed to take locally specific approaches - places are different. In 'Our Towns' we set out eight principles which together embrace the best of what we know from the evidence, balancing this against the risks towns must take on new and as yet unproven ideas and initiatives.
Every town should embrace its own identity and local relationships
Social investment in people should be the basis of a more inclusive local economy and growth
Towns should aspire to be the best places to live
Towns need to think differently about their town centres
Towns need to secure quick wins and commit to long-term transformation
Local leadership and decision-making capacity are key to success
Strategic use of procurement can strengthen local institutions and promote community wealth building
Town futures should be shaped with and by local people
After Brexit, Britain in 2020 faces two central questions: How can we rebalance power, wealth and opportunity across the country, growing the economy and responding to economic shocks, and how can we transition to a decarbonised more inclusive economy? If we are serious about responding to these challenges, we will need to do economics and public policy differently, with resilience, inclusion and sustainability as core objectives. Ultimately this will be about how we support people, businesses and places.
Towns and cities should be at the heart of the debate. But the national approaches we have so far seen for our towns are too small and too focused either on symptoms rather than underlying drivers or on capital projects that don’t do enough to help communities.
One thing that won’t work in towns that need change is a business as usual approach. There is opportunity in the current state of flux. Towns, like and with cities, need to seek it out and exploit it.
Read the full report here.
Find out more about our work with towns and get in touch:
Mike Emmerich