OECD LEED PROGRAMME LOCAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY SERIES REVIEW OF BELFAST, UNITED KINGDOM. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: THE REVIEW ...................................................................................................................4 LEED and the OECD...................................................................................................................................4 The LEED Mandate 2005 - 2010.................................................................................................................4 The Belfast Study.........................................................................................................................................5 The economic development of Belfast-the international context for local economic development............8 CHAPTER TWO: TAKING FORWARD THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF BELFAST: THE KEY ISSUES..........................................................................................................................................................10 The Economic Vision for Northern Ireland ...............................................................................................10 The Belfast Economy.................................................................................................................................15 Belfast City Centre.....................................................................................................................................18 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................20 CHAPTER 3: THE POSITION ELSEWHERE ............................................................................................22 Introduction................................................................................................................................................22 The OECD LEED Conceptual Framework for Development Agencies and Economic Strategies ...........22 The growth of City Development Bodies – an international perspective ..................................................26 The position elsewhere in the United Kingdom.........................................................................................30 In economic development terms, what do capital cities have in common? ...............................................37 Can these capital city assets be leveraged for economic development? ....................................................38 Lessons from the Republic of Ireland........................................................................................................39 Conclusions................................................................................................................................................41 .......................................................................................................................................................................42 CHAPTER 4: MOVING FORWARD ..........................................................................................................43 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................43 Conclusions................................................................................................................................................49 CHAPTER 5: THE PACKAGE OF INSTRUMENTS .................................................................................50 i. Belfast City Centre .................................................................................................................................51 ii. Universities and Economic Development: organising for the knowledge economy.............................54 iii. Employment and Inclusion...................................................................................................................56 iv. Investment Strategy. .............................................................................................................................58 v. Better use of existing instruments..........................................................................................................61 CHAPTER 6: LEADING THE PROCESS...................................................................................................62 What leadership does local and regional economic development require? ...............................................62 Distinctive economic strategy....................................................................................................................62 Implication 1: Economic strategy leadership.............................................................................................64 Economic development delivery and problem solving..............................................................................64 Institutional leadership...............................................................................................................................65 Case Studies of city-wide leadership groups .............................................................................................66 CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................70 2 Final words: ...............................................................................................................................................76 APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................................77 APPENDIX 1: NORTH SOUTH OPPORTUNITIES FOR DUBLIN..........................................................77 APPENDIX 2: CASE STUDY: LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA .. .......................................................................................................................................................................84 Achieving a ‘safe landing’ – South Africa’s negotiated Local Government transition.............................84 ‘Giant steps’ - consolidation of municipal boundaries and creation of Metropolitan Government...........85 From ‘either/or’ to ‘both/and’ – urban and rural policy debates................................................................85 Local Government and development planning ..........................................................................................85 Networking and knowledge – new forms of cooperative governance.......................................................86 The evolution of city development strategy...............................................................................................87 Lessons ......................................................................................................................................................89 APPENDIX 3: FULL EMPLOYMENT STRATEGIES FOR CITIES: 10 GUIDING PRINCIPLES.........92 Tackling worklessness and the challenge of long term unemployment.....................................................92 APPENDIX 4: 10 PRINCIPLES FOR FINANCING LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ......................................97 Financing economic development .............................................................................................................97 Boxes Belfast: profile of the city 2007/08 ..............................................................................................................9 Northern Ireland's regional economic profile ............................................................................................12 BALTIMORE: An EDC with a comprehensive remit...............................................................................28 VANCOUVER: An EDC charged with increasing business confidence ..................................................28 BOSTON: An EDC making use of a range of real estate and financial tools ...........................................29 STUTTGART: An EDC concerned with regional economic development...............................................29 SINGAPORE: An EDC charged with long-term strategic territorial planning .........................................30 Case study: Auckland ................................................................................................................................53 International examples of successfully linking higher education to local economies ...............................55 GEMS: The Gasworks Employment Matching Service ............................................................................56 Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA)................................................................................57 New York City Workforce 1......................................................................................................................58 The City of Dublin.....................................................................................................................................82 Figures Figure 1: Sheffield First’s overarching partnership structure...........................................................34 Figure 2: Employment growth relative to European average.............................................................40 Figure 3: Statutory corporate tax rates in international comparison (Combined rate, per cent1).........41 Figure 4: The proposed structure of the BIDA.................................... ..............................................47 Figure 5: The integrative framework