REGENERATIVE CITY-REGIONS? a case study of Cardiff Capital Region and its future generations LORENA AXINTE Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning Cardiff University Sustainable Places Research Institute School of Geography and Planning March 2020 Acknowledgements Throughout this project, I have benefitted from the support, expertise and empathy of a great number of people. I am grateful to my three supervisors – Terry Marsden, Abid Mehmood and Dirk Roep, and my reviewer – Gillian Bristow, who gave me the freedom to explore and learn, and restored my confidence whenever I failed. I would also like to thank my research fellows from the SUSPLACE Marie Curie ITN for peer reviews, engaging discussions and unforgettable parties. Our children’s book team for the amazing learning journey that turned into my dearest project. Cátia Rebelo for always being there, and Omer Husain for the endless coffee, chocolate and dreams we’ve built together. Anke de Vrieze, Steve Goundrey and Ruth Leo for making the muddy administrative waters easier to navigate. Alex Franklin for being an inspiring researcher, in dialogue and action. Mark Lang for reading hundreds of pages and discussing ideas around Pontcanna’s cafés, and for allowing me to be part of his research. I have learned a great deal from him. Matthew Quinn and Usha Ladwa-Thomas from the Welsh Government for being such caring partners and helping to shape this project. The Future Generations Office for welcoming me in their team and for embodying the change I believe could lead to regenerative action. All the people, young and less young, the local organisations and councils who have so generously devoted time and knowledge for this research. My family, for always being near me in spite of the distance, and in particular my mum, who’s uncomplainingly listened to rants, over the phone, throughout these four years. Toto, for sleeping in my lap whenever we had the chance to write something together. Anca Mihăilescu, for always being enthusiastic about my next destination, and for meeting me there. Last and certainly not least, Bálint Halász for the feedback and the never-ending debates on growth and technological innovation, as well the unconditional patience and love that have kept me sane during this process. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, under the project SUSPLACE “Sustainable Place- Shaping” – a Marie Sklodowska Curie Innovation Training Network (grant agreement No 674962). Summary City-regions have gained popularity among academics, politicians and policy-makers alike, promising a better scale to encompass the interconnections between places and people, formerly separated by administrative boundaries. Yet, city-regions are still underpinned by a narrow economic rationale which prioritises policies for economic growth, competitiveness and agglomeration, often disregarding larger problematics of equity, distribution and environmental issues. This is happening despite a long standing call from scholars who have been looking for more holistic ways to define, study and understand city-regions. The current project can be situated among the aforementioned efforts, aiming to portray city- regions as complex, nested ecosystems, where a variety of actors, initiatives and possibilities to shape the developmental agenda exist. To this end, the research has bridged between three different literature strands – progressive regionalism, collaborative governance and regenerative development – to create an integrated conceptual framework. This tripartite lens was applied on a single empirical case study, Cardiff Capital Region, which was analysed from its inception until June 2018. The case study’s legislative context led to a further conceptual refining, adding a focus on the role that future generations – today’s young people – could play in city-regional development. Employing mixed methods, the research engaged politicians, policy-makers, academics, practitioners, as well as university and college students, helping to shed light upon the city- region’s emergence, its evolution (both as process – the governance structure, and policy – choice of projects and investments), and the variety of narratives and stakeholders co-existing in the city-region. Besides, the research showed the effects that the funding model had on the format, actors and governance structure, as well as the windows of opportunity to redefine priorities towards a more progressive, collaborative and regenerative city-region. Glossary CCR Cardiff Capital Region CCRCD Cardiff Capital Region City Deal CCRB Cardiff Capital Region Board (CCRCD) CU Cardiff University CUCRE Cardiff University City-region Exchange CUMG Cardiff University Metro Group DC Design Circle EGP Economic Growth Partnership (CCRCD) ESB Employment and Skills Board (CCRCD) FGC Future Generations Commissioner FGCO Future Generations Commissioner’s Office G&CC Growth and Competitiveness Commission GVA Gross Value Added insiders Actors officially involved in Cardiff Capital Region (council leaders, council executives, or members of the different city-regional bodies) IWA Institute of Welsh Affairs LA Local authority JC Joint Cabinet (CCRCD) NAW National Assembly for Wales outsiders Actors who have interacted with Cardiff Capital Region, yet are outside of the formal governance structure PMO Programme Management Office (CCRCD) PSB Public services board RBC Regional Business Council (CCRCD) RD Regional Director (CCRCD) RPB Regional Programme Board (CCRCD) RTA Regional Transport Authority (CCRCD) TA Thematic analysis T&FG Task and finish group TfW Transport for Wales UKG UK Government WFGA Well-being of Future Generations Act WG Welsh Government WIF Wider Investment Fund Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 A preface to a complex story ..................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research rationales and aims .................................................................................... 3 1.3 Why this research matters ......................................................................................... 5 1.4 Thesis structure ......................................................................................................... 7 Literature review – framing the regenerative city-regional development ......................... 10 2.1 Part 1: Beyond city-regions as mere economic spaces. Progressive regionalism ....... 12 2.1.1 Cities, regions, city-regions .............................................................................. 12 2.1.2 City-regions: socio-economic and socio-ecological spaces ................................ 13 2.1.3 City-regions and city deals: A British tale .......................................................... 18 2.2 Part 2: Beyond exclusive and elitist city-regions. Collaborative governance ............. 22 2.2.1 Collaborative governance: what, who and how ................................................ 22 2.2.2 To collaborate or not to collaborate? The trade-offs ........................................ 24 2.2.3 Who collaborates in British city-regional governance structures?..................... 27 2.2.4 A missing link: young people ............................................................................ 29 2.3 Part 3: Beyond cities as engines of growth. Regenerative city-regions...................... 32 2.3.1 From sustainable to regenerative: a paradigm shift.......................................... 32 2.3.2 Regenerative development – a holistic approach ............................................. 35 2.3.3 Already happening or utopia? .......................................................................... 38 2.4 Part 4: A new way of analysing city-regions ............................................................. 42 2.4.1 The trilateral conceptual framework ................................................................ 42 2.4.2 Applying the framework in a real case: Cardiff Capital Region .......................... 45 Research methodology .................................................................................................... 49 3.1 The philosophy behind the research design ............................................................. 50 3.2 The case study approach and case selection ............................................................ 52 3.3 Multiple research methods ...................................................................................... 53 3.3.1 Exploring the city-region – traditional research methods ................................. 53 3.3.2 Exploring with youth – creative research methods ........................................... 57 3.3.3 Immersive research experiences: secondments ............................................... 62 3.4 Making sense of findings: data analysis ................................................................... 63 3.4.1 Turning voice into text: data transcription ....................................................... 64 3.4.2 Data analysis method and process ................................................................... 64 3.5 Concluding remarks and a few regrets ..................................................................... 66 Case study context – a brief history of (city-)regionalism in South East Wales .................. 68 4.1 Proto-regionalism ....................................................................................................68